System and method for reallocating and/or upgrading and/or rewarding tickets, other event admittance means, goods and/or services

ABSTRACT

A method, system, server architecture and/or tangible medium upgrade and award admittance of events to an event customer, preferably via a data communication network. The method includes, for example, receiving a communication from the event customer, the communication including a request to obtain admittance to at least one event, the communication also including an identifier associated with the event customer, admitting the event customer at the point of sale system after verification of the request, and updating a database indicating that the request was processed. The method also includes determining first predetermined criteria associated with the event indicative of at least one other event customer not attending the event, releasing an allocation associated with the at least one other event customer, and notifying at least another of the event customers to perform the upgrade and/or reallocation.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional application Ser.No. 60/220,218 filed on Jul. 24, 2000 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHODFOR REALLOCATING AND/OR UPGRADING TICKETS OR OTHER EVENT ADMITTANCEMEANS”, and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/226,594 filed onAug. 21, 2000 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REALLOCATING AND/ORUPGRADING TICKETS OR OTHER EVENT ADMITTANCE MEANS”, and the details ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to purchasing and provisioningitems or services online for reallocating and/or upgrading and/orrewarding tickets and/or other goods/services, and more particularly, toa system, method, and computer readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions for upgrading, reallocating,purchasing, and/or being rewarded items or services including eventtickets, concessions, and/or merchandise over a data communicationnetwork and provisioning these purchases for, for example, reallocatingand/or upgrading tickets.

Provisioning, as defined herein, includes in whole or in part, theprocess of effectuating and/or facilitating the processing of atransaction, including, for example, the sale and/or transfer and/orreallocation of tickets, goods, services, and the like, for movies,theatre, shows, sporting events, cultural events, and other non-eventrelated purchases, services, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,629 to Leatherman et al. (Leatherman), incorporatedherein by reference, is directed to an Internet capable browserdispenser architecture. As shown in prior art FIG. 1 (FIG. 1 ofLeatherman), the system of Leatherman includes a plurality of fueldispensers 12, each having at least two fueling positions and acting asa point of sale (POS) interface. Connected to the fuel dispensers 12 isa main service station store 16, a local server 18, a convenience store20, a number of restaurants 22, and a car wash 24, as well as otherremote servers 26 via the Internet. Basically, the system of Leathermanprovides gas station customers with access to a server on a localnetwork and remote sites via the Internet. With this arrangement, thegas station customers may purchase services at the POS dispensers and besubject to advertisements transmitted thereto. However, while Leathermandiscusses purchasing items at a gas station, it makes no disclosure ofeffectively provisioning and/or performing transactions in theentertainment and/or ticketing industry.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,045 to Kagan et al. (Kagen), incorporated herein byreference, relates to an interactive game system. As depicted in priorart FIG. 2 (FIG. 1 of Kagen), the interactive game system 610 of Kagenincludes three playing devices 612, 614, and 616, which communicate viaa wireless local area network. Communication is effected utilizingshort-range radio, infrared, or ultra-sonic signals. As shown in priorart FIG. 3 (FIG. 2 of Kagen), each playing device includes a processor718, an interface 720, a transmitter 722, a receiver 724 and a display726. Using these components, a player's actions are transmitted to andreceived by another player's playing device.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,920 to Shur et al. (Shur), incorporated herein byreference, relates to a sports team organizer. In prior art FIG. 4 (FIG.1 of Shur), a portable computing device for organizing a sports teamincludes an input device 812, a processor 814, a memory 816, a number ofstored programs 818, and an output device 820. With these elements, theorganizing system allows a team roster, a starting lineup, and a numberof drills to be generated.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,795 to Stanton (Stanton), incorporated herein byreference, relates to portable computerized pari-mutuel sportsentertainment system. In prior art FIG. 5 (FIG. 1 of Stanton), thesystem includes a computer 911 and conductor 916, a video cassetterecorder 912 with video tape 917, a television set 913, keypads 914, andprinters 915. The computer 911 operates as a main computing server, andincludes a motherboard 920, a memory card 921, and a number of graphicsand other serial cards 922, 923, and 924. With this system, bets areentered from remote locations with keypads 914 and stored in computer911. After a race, winnings are collected at the cashiers, windows(keypads 914).

The above cited patents are relevant from the perspective that wirelessdevices are gaining more popularity in today's society.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207 to Walker et al. (Walker), incorporated hereinby reference, relates to a method and apparatus for a cryptographicallyassisted commercial network system designed to facilitate buyer-drivenconditional purchase offers. In prior art FIG. 6 (FIG. 1 of Walker), thesystem includes seller interfaces 300, central controller 200, and buyernode 400. A number of modems 350 and 450 facilitate connection tocentral controller 200. Using these components, a buyer communicates abinding purchase offer to a number of sellers. In response, the sellershave the option to accept a purchase offer and thus bind thecorresponding buyer to a contract. Nevertheless, Walker makes no mentionof allowing redemption of the purchases at a point of sale location uponidentification or verification of the purchaser or of the purchase.

FIGS. 7–9 show a prior art radio frequency (RF) transmission system 100,as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,172, incorporated herein byreference, for transmitting information from one of a plurality oforiginating processors A-N to at least one of a plurality of destinationprocessors (A-N) which may be transported during operation. The system100 includes at least one gateway switch 150 that stores informationreceived from one of the at least one originating processor prior totransmission of the information to the at least one destinationprocessor; a RF information transmission network 130 for transmittingstored information received from one of the at least one gateway switch150 by RF transmission to at least one destination processor; and atleast one interface switch 162 that connects a gateway switch 150 to theRF transmission network 100 and transmits stored information receivedfrom one of the at least one gateway switch 150 to the RF informationtransmission network 100.

The information is transmitted to a receiving interface switch by theelectronic mail system in response to an address of the receivinginterface switch which has been added to the information originated bythe originating processor by either the originating processor or gatewayswitch 14. The information is transmitted from the receiving interfaceswitch to the RF information transmission network 130 with an address ofthe destination processor to receive the information which has beenadded by either the originating processor, a gateway switch or thereceiving interface switch.

More particularly, FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of the connectionbetween a plurality of gateway switches with mailboxes 150 in differentelectronic mail systems to the RF information transmission network 160.Multiple gateway switches with mailboxes 150 from a single electronicmail system 1-N may be connected to each interface switch 162 instead ofthe connection of a single gateway switch with a mailbox to a singleinterface switch as illustrated. A plurality of interface switches 162connect information transmitted from at least one electronic mail systemas illustrated in FIG. 7. Optionally, a plurality of electronic mailsystems 1-N are connected to a data input port of the RF informationtransmission system which is preferably hub switch 116. The dotted linecommunication paths 163 illustrate optional information transmissions inwhich information from a plurality of different electronic mail systemsis concentrated at a single interface switch 304. The dotted linecommunication paths 161 illustrate connections to additional gatewayswitches with mailboxes 150 within electronic mail systems 1-N.

The interface switches 162 function as a security check to determinethat information transmissions originating from a gateway switch withmailbox 150 represent transmissions which should be coupled to a hubswitch 116 of the RF information transmission network 160. The securitycheck is performed by the interface switch 162 comparing theidentification number of the RF receiver 119 which has been added byeither an originating processor A-N or a gateway switch with mailboxes150 with permissible identification numbers or the interface switchperforming the addition of the identification number.

The interface switch 162 also removes information added by theelectronic mail system 1-N to the information originated by theoriginating processor A-N from the stored information received from oneof the gateway switches 14, and adds information used by the RFinformation transmission network 130 during transmission of theinformation originated at the originating processor to a RF receiver 119in the RF information transmission network 130 which receives theinformation and transfers it to the destination processor A-N.Additionally, the interface switch 162 encodes data, which is requiredto format the display of the cathode ray tube (CRT) of the destinationprocessor for the electronic mail system to which the destinationprocessor is connected, in the form of a character or characters whichare decoded by either the RF receiver 119 or the destination processorA-N. This information is added in decoded form back to the informationwhich is processed by the destination processor with a format of theelectronic mail system to which the destination processor A-N isconnected.

The interface switches 162 also function to store information which hasbeen stored by at least one gateway switch 150 that is received from aplurality of originating processors, and assemble the information from aplurality of originating processors into a packet having a predeterminedformat and transmit the packet to the hub switch 116 within the RFinformation transmission network 160. The hub switch is the preferablenode in the RF information transmission network to which communicationsfrom the gateway switches 150 should be transmitted as a consequence ofit having jurisdiction over both local access and transport area (LATA)switches 150 and the local switches 112 in the RF informationtransmission network, which results in lesser network overhead.

The hub switch 116 receives the packet from the receiving interfaceswitch 162 and disassembles the packet into information from theplurality of originating processors. The originating processors areeither within a single electronic mail system such as system 1, or froma plurality of electronic mail systems, such as systems 1-N, or fromoutside of any electronic mail system from at least one additionalprocessor 312 which is connected directly to interface switch 162 tooriginate information to be transmitted to a destination processor A-Nin an electronic mail system as described below. The RF informationtransmission network 130 transmits the disassembled information from thehub switch 116, including the identification number of the RF receiver119 transferring information, to the destination processor A-N to alocal switch 112 storing the file identified by the identificationnumber and any destination of the RF receiver in the RF informationtransmission network to which the information and identification numberis to be transmitted by the RF information transmission network, andadds any destination of the RF receiver to the information. The RFinformation transmission network, in response to any added destination,transmits the information and identification number to the destinationfor RF broadcast to the RF receiver 119 for transfer to the destinationprocessor A-N.

The information is transmitted to a receiving interface switch 162 fromone or more gateway switches 150 by one or more electronic mail systems1-N in response to an address of the receiving interface switch whichhas been added to the information originated by the originatingprocessor by either the originating processor or gateway switch. Theinformation is transmitted from the receiving interface switch 162 tothe RF information transmission network with an address of thedestination processor, such as a name of a user of the destinationprocessor A-N, to receive the information which has been added by eitherthe originating processor A-N, a gateway switch 150 or the receivinginterface switch 304.

Preferably, the address of the receiving interface switch is a codeword, such as “TF-MOBOX”, which is recognized throughout the electronicmail system when appended to information as directing the information tobe transmitted to the interface switch 304. The address of thedestination processor is preferably the identification number of the RFreceiver 119 within the RF information transmission network 160. Theaddress of the receiving interface switch may be added to theinformation originated by the originating processor, by a gateway switch150 or by the originating processor A-N. The address of the receivinginterface switch 162 may be added to the information by matching anidentification of the destination processor A-N which may be the name ofthe individual utilizing the processor or some other information to addan address of an interface switch such as the aforementioned “TF-MOBOX”stored with the matched identification of the destination processor tothe information as the address of the receiving interface switch.

Alternatively, the originating processor may be used to add the addressof the receiving interface switch 150 by inputting the address of thereceiving interface switch (TF-MOBOX) along with an identification ofthe destination processor A-N (name of recipient using the processor).

The originating processor A-N may also add the address of the receivinginterface switch 162 by matching an identification of the destinationprocessor (name of the user of the processor) with a storedidentification of a destination processor and adding an address of theinterface switch (TF-MOBOX) stored with the matched identification ofthe destination processor to the information as the address of thereceiving interface switch.

The identification number may be added to the information originated bythe originating processor or, alternatively, maybe added by theoriginating processor by matching an identification of the destinationprocessor (the name of the user of the processor) with a storedidentification of a destination processor (the authorized user of thedestination processor) and adding an identification number stored withthe matched identification of the destination processor to theinformation as the identification number of the RF receiver 119.Alternatively, the aforementioned matching process may be performed byeither the gateway switch 150 or the interface switch 304. Theadditional processors 312 originates information from outside of anyelectronic mail system.

Processors 312 provide an address of at least one destination processorin an electronic mail system, such as the name of the user, to receiveinformation transmitted by the RF information transmission system 160,or an identification number of the RF receiver 119 receiving informationand transferring the information to the destination processor. Theinterface switch 162 which receives the information from each processor312 adds information used by the RF information transmission network 130during transmission of the information to the RF receiver 119 receivingthe information in the same manner as described above with respect tothe interface switch 304.

Processors 312 are only required to have a telephone modem and supportprogramming to format information for RF transmission to a destinationprocessor A-N within any one of one or more electronic mail systems 1-N.The processors 312 are not required to have the necessary electronicmail system software present in originating processors A-N orinterconnections with an electronic mail system. As a result of theconnection to the interface switch 304, information originating from theadditional processors 312 may be transmitted by RF transmission to adestination processor A-N within any one or a plurality of electronicmail systems with the user of the processor 312, the processor 312 orthe interface switch 162 only having to supply an identification numberof the receiver 119 to input information into the RF informationtransmission system 130 for RF transmission to a destination processor.

The difference between originating information by one of the additionalprocessors 312 outside of any electronic mail system and originatinginformation by one of the processors within one of the electronic mailsystems is that the direct connection of the additional processor to theinterface switch 162 eliminates the requirement for the adding of anaddress of the interface switch 162 which is required by the electronicmail systems to forward the information to the interface switch wherenecessary formatting of the information to be compatible with the RFinformation transmission system is performed. The interface switch 162packetizes information originating from the additional processors 312 inthe same manner as described above with respect to informationoriginating from within an electronic mail system.

Information from within an electronic mail system and originating fromadditional processors 312 outside of the electronic mail system may beformatted into the same packets which are forwarded to the hub switch116. Additionally, interface switch 162 may be connected only to theadditional processors 312 to provide an interface only for processorsoutside of any electronic mail system to destination processors A-Nwithin one or more electronic mail systems 1-N. The only informationwhich is necessary to be inputted by the additional processors 312 isthe address of the destination processor (user of the processor). Theaddition of the identification number of the receiver 119 may be addedby matching of an identification of the destination processor withstored destination processors within the additional processor 312, orthe interface switch 162 with an identification number of the receiver119 stored with an identification of a destination processor A-N used asan identification of the destination processor upon a match having beenmade.

Prior art FIGS. 7–9, however, do not generally relate to, for example,providing an integrated or combination real time and polled electronicmessaging system, method and/or a computer readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions for enabling e-mail messages and/orother data messages and/or services to be transmitted and/or receivedvia a wireless communications device on either a real time and/or polledbasis.

In recent years, technological advance and consumer demand together havemade wireless messaging and related services (e.g., eLink^(SM) providedby Motient Corporation, Reston, Va.) increasingly popular. Theseservices allow users to, for example, send and receive e-mail messages,as well as provide other messaging services such as paging and faxing.Such e-mail messages are generally received on either a polled or realtime basis, where the user has to select the preferred delivery method.

In a polled delivery scheme, the user's existing Internet e-mail accountis “extended” via a wireless communications device. For example, in thecase of eLinks^(SM), messages are retrieved from, for example, a PostOffice Protocol 3 (POP3) or Internet Messaging Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4)server and forwarded to a user's wireless device. Using a wirelessdevice, users can access their Internet mailbox either automatically by,for example, setting one or more times at which they wish to receivetheir messages, or manually by, for example, clicking a “Get Messages”or similar icon. Other ways of accessing the mailbox are also optionallypossible. In a real time delivery scheme, user's are generally provideda new, unique e-mail address, which obviously provides the user with ane-mail account that is separate from their desktop e-mail account. Forexample, in the case of eLink^(SM), user's are provided a unique e-mailaddress having the form <username>@2way.net. Other message forms and/ordomain names may also optionally be utilized. Such wireless schemes alsogenerally allow users to respond to e-mails in a way such that theyappear as though they are originated from the user's e-mail systemresiding on their desktop PC.

Accordingly, the above prior art is cited as background, none of whichrelates to the reallocating and/or reprovisionsing and/or upgradingand/or rewarding of tickets at events or other goods and services asdescribed in connection with the detailed description below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Driven by a widespread understanding of the Internet's capabilities, thepower of electronic commerce, and advances in wireless technologies anddevices, mobile commerce (m-commerce) is rapidly approaching thebusiness forefront. According to independent research findings,m-commerce—the conduct of business and services over portable, wirelessdevices-will soon be a dominant force in business and society. Forexample:

-   -   IDC, an information technology research firm, reports that 70        percent of all wireless subscribers worldwide will access data        applications via their phones by 2002.    -   The investment firm Robinson Humphrey predicts that, in the US,        50 percent of Internet hits will originate from wireless devices        by 2004.    -   The Yankee Group, a telecommunications research firm, projects        that by 2004 more than 40 percent of wireless users in the US        will access Internet content directly from their mobile devices.

The viability of these projections depends on the power of theunderlying technology drivers and the attractiveness of m-commerceapplications. To compete in a marketplace dominated by wireless devices,businesses must devise effective m-commerce strategies. Buildingsuccessful strategies begins by recognizing the forces drivingm-commerce's emergence.

The US Federal Communication Commission's auctioning of personalcommunication-service spectrum space in the mid-1990s triggered thecurrent rush to wireless communication methods. Wireless communicationnow encompasses not only telephones but appliances, including personaldigital assistants (PDAs).

Internet use has grown on the strength of PC networks. According toYankee Group projections, the installed base of PCs will reach 500million by 2003, as FIG. 10 shows. This huge base is essential tocontinued growth in electronic commerce and other communicationsapplications. Moreover, because these systems will have greater powerand storage capability, as well as the best ever price-performanceratios, more powerful and sophisticated applications will likely emergefor desktop computing and the Internet.

Although these expectations are impressive, PCs still have two limitingcharacteristics. First, users must sit in front of them. Second, evenportable-notebook PCs have to load software, dial into and connect witha network service provider, and await completion of the handshakingprocess before they can launch an Internet application. This sequence isunderstandable, but at best it seems a tolerable nuisance. Hence, thedominant applications are still those that are worth the trouble ittakes for a user to follow this access sequence or, at least, to keepthe computer and applications running.

The aggregate PC installation is substantial, but even more mobilecommunication devices are in use. The Gartner Group and other researchfirms project that by 2004, the installed base of mobile phonesworldwide will exceed 1 billion more than twice the number of PCs. Inaddition, the number of other wireless mobile devices will also increasedramatically. Wireless PDA use will more than triple in the next threeyears. Unlike PCs, these wireless devices require no boot sequence, sopeople can use them as soon as they turn them on-making them attractivefor quick-hit applications.

Just as the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol and thegeneral purpose browser were principal drivers of Internet growth,letting disparate devices interconnect and communicate, similar factorswill simplify the interconnectivity and communication of heterogeneouswireless devices. As FIG. 11 shows, mobile network carriers have reliedon a variety of incompatible wireless access standards. Recently,however, a common communications technology and uniform interfacestandard for presenting and delivering wireless services on mobiledevices-wireless application protocol (WAP)—have emerged.

WAP specifications include a microbrowser; scripting similar toJavaScript; access functions; and layered communication specificationsfor sessions, transport, and security. These specifications enableinterface-independent and interoperable applications. Most wirelesshandset and device manufacturers, as well as several service andinfrastructure providers, have adopted the WAP standard.

Current access technologies, including TDMA (time division multipleaccess), CDMA (code division multiple access), and GSM (Global Systemfor Mobile Communication), transmit at 9.6 to 19.2 Kbps. These speedsare dramatically slower than the dial-up rates of desktop PCs connectingto the Internet. Although m-commerce is possible at these bandwidthrates, the slow speeds are not conducive to creating widespread businessor consumer participation.

3G (third-generation) wireless technology will also be available. Inaddition to having greater bandwidth rates, with speeds up to 2 Mbps, 3Gwill support multimedia transmission. Integrating voice, data, and one-or two-way video will let m-commerce run over any wireless device.

M-commerce applications fall into three main categories: transactionmanagement, digital content delivery, and telemetry services. Users willincreasingly initiate a wide range of business transactions from mobiledevices. Online shopping sites tailored to mobile phones and PDAsincluding browsing, selection, purchase, payment, and delivery—havealready emerged. These sites include all the necessary shoppingfeatures, such as online catalogs, shopping carts, and back officefunctions. Online booksellers are among the firms that have alreadyimplemented wireless shopping transactions. Another class of m-commercetransactions involves using wireless devices to initiate and pay forpurchases and services in real time. These kinds of transactions willlikely increase as users gain the capability—and become comfortableenough—to manage them. The highest m-commerce transaction volume willprobably occur in micro transactions. When individuals reach for theire-cash—equipped mobile phones or PDAs-rather than coins—to settletransactions such as subway fees, widespread use of digital cash will bea reality.

Digital content delivery uses the wireless channel's distributioncharacteristics. These m-commerce activities include informationbrowsing-instant retrieval of status information (weather, transitschedules, sports scores, ticket availability, and market prices)—anddirectory services. The CNN Wireless news subscription service and theUPS PDA-linked package tracking and locator service are representativeof emerging content delivery services.

Digital products easily transport to and from wireless devices. Hence,downloading entertainment products—for example, MP3 music—is likely tobecome even more commonplace when 3G arrives. Transferring software,high resolution images, and full-motion advertising messages will alsobecome common activities. The emergence of high-quality display screensand greater bandwidth will undoubtedly trigger the development ofinnovative video applications. Individuals will use wireless devices toaccess, retrieve, store, and display high-resolution video content forentertainment, product demonstration, and distance learning.

The transmission and receipt of status, sensing, and measurementinformation-telemetry services-form the basis for a wide range of newapplications involving mobile devices. Innovations in this area letpeople use wireless phones and appliances to communicate with variousdevices from their homes, offices, or in the field. For instance,delivery drivers will “ping” intelligent dispensing machines or storecomputers to determine where their rolling inventory is needed most orwhich locations need immediate service. Similarly, users will transmitmessages to activate remote recording devices or service systems.

Active m-commerce applications function only when someone directlyinitiates them by transmitting payment details, requesting information,receiving specific content, or retrieving status information. Incontrast, passive applications occur without the user taking anyaction—for example, the automatic collection of toll charges withdedicated cash cards. Integrating digital cash into mobile devices wouldmake these cash cards unnecessary. These wireless devices wouldfacilitate and record payment of toll, mass-transit, fast-food, andother transactions without the user authorizing or enteringidentification information for each individual transaction. Users couldarrange to have their cash chips update automatically by directing thewireless device to contact their money source and download additionaldigital cash whenever necessary.

Popular in Europe, short messages text messages, up to 160 characters inlength, that show up on the recipient's display as they arrive—areexamples of passive content delivery. As digital convergence becomesmore commonplace, all forms of mail will passively go to wirelessdevices, including digitized voice mail, fax documents, and e-mail.Passive security, intrusion, and emergency telemetry services willrefine the monitoring of facilities and individuals. Any unusual eventor unacceptable condition will trigger user notification, regardless oflocation. Airlines are testing technology that will let them alertpassengers, especially frequent fliers, to seat upgrades, schedulechanges, and so on, through wireless devices. Some airlines already haveprototype telemetry systems that transmit this kind of information topassengers as soon as they enter the airport or pass near a kiosk-likedevice.

Passive m-commerce telemetry is the foundation of still another form ofinteractive marketing. Stores will be able to market their products andservices by transmitting promotional coupons and messages to passers by:“Come in and enjoy a complimentary cup of our new coffee blend,” or “Gethalf off, if you make your purchase within the next 30 minutes.” Thistype of marketing may give rise to a new challenge: managing m-junkmessages without turning off your wireless device.

The technology to facilitate m-commerce is within reach, even asbarriers to its development fall away. Applications and wireless devicespromise to evolve together, each driving the introduction of innovativeand powerful features in the other. The opportunity and challenge is forbusiness to develop strategies that capitalize on the strengths ofmobile commerce, thereby helping it to compete in an increasinglydigital marketplace. The greatest challenge to structuring such astrategy may be creating the innovations that will meet the needs andexpectations of consumers and commercial participants. Additionaldetails regarding the above may be found in James A. Senn, The Emergenceof M-Commerce, IEEE COMPUTER (December 2000), incorporated herein byreference and all references cited there incorporated herein byreference.

Mobile device and computer users increasingly face the management ofmany computing devices. One reason is the expansion of computingenvironments in the home and office, as printers, scanners, digitalcameras, and other peripherals are integrated into networkedenvironments. Another reason is the proliferation of mobile devices suchas laptop and palm-sized computers, cellular phones, and pagers. Becausethese devices trade functionality for suitable form factors and lowpower consumption, they are necessarily “peripheral-poor” and musttherefore establish connections to neighboring devices for storage,faxing, high-speed network access, and printing. It is easy to becomefrustrated when dealing with the configuration and interaction of such amultitude of devices. Service discovery technologies were developed toreduce this frustration and to simplify the use of mobile devices in anetwork by allowing them to be “discovered,” configured, and used byother devices with a minimum of manual effort. Although most of these“service discovery suites” promise similar functionality•namely, reducedconfiguration hassles, improved device cooperation, and automateddiscovery of required services•they come at the problem from differentphilosophical and technical approaches. Since none of these technologiesis a superset of the others and none is mature enough to dominate themarket, interoperation among them will require bridging mechanisms. Fivecompeting technologies are described that may be used in conjunctionwith the present invention, however, other technologies may also oralternatively be used.

Thus, to address the above and other needs of the prior art, it is afeature and advantage of the present invention to provide users with theability to be awarded, reallocated, upgraded and/or reprovisionedpurchase items including tickets and concessions and/or othermerchandise and/or services online. By doing so, the present inventionallows these users to proceed directly to the event and/or receive thegoods and/or services, thereby bypassing any box offices. In addition,the present invention allows purchases of a variety of items such asmovie tickets, concessions, movie merchandise, and/or other goods orservices using the processes and architecture described herein or otherstandard platforms. The present invention facilitates these purchasesand the subsequent provisioning thereof by utilizing an identificationdevice associated with a user's account which, in turn, is readable by areader at a point of sale location for verifying the purchases made bythe user. The identification device can be, for example, a smart cardand/or wireless device with infrared and/or bluetooth enabled, or otherstandard wireless device, including those described herein.

It is also another optional feature and advantage, alone or incombination with one or more other features, of the present invention tofacilitate the provisioning of demographic information to programsponsors. By having each user register demographic information such asage and interests during, for example an initialization process, thepresent invention compiles information for advertising and marketinguse. Using this information, the present invention allows event sponsorsto create custom offerings to users. Similarly, the invention allows asponsor to leverage user and market information to create programs thataddress evolving user needs for targeting and acquiring new customers.

It is another optional feature and advantage of the present invention toprovide marketing opportunities for the events themselves and/or eventrelated merchandise at an entertainment site. This allows users to shopfor tickets, concessions, and event-related merchandise at a single timeand location.

It is yet another optional feature and advantage of the presentinvention to apply these concepts to a wide variety of venues such asmovies, concerts, sporting events, cultural activities, reserved seatingevents, events requiring advanced ticket purchase, and/or other similarand analogous events or settings where goods and/or services can besold, including upgraded, awarded and/or reprovisioned.

To accomplish the above and other features, in one embodiment of thepresent invention invention, a user first visits a leading portal, forexample, Yahoo!, and selects an event and a desired time. Next, the useris linked to a server, where he or she purchases a ticket and/orconcessions and other merchandise with, for example, a credit card, in asecure transaction. The event ticket is then transferred to the user'saccount, which in turn is associated with a smart card and/or wirelessdevice in the possession of the user. With the smart card/wirelessdevice in hand, the user avoids any box office lines and proceedsdirectly to an attendant or a point of sale (POS) server or system. Theuser then presents the smart card to the attendant or POS who reads thesmart card using a reading device. After reading the smart card, theattendant or POS accesses the user's account and verifies that a tickethas indeed been purchased before admitting the user. Once the user is atthe event, as described below, the user has the functionality to beupgraded, reallocated and/or rewarded tickets.

For example, in one embodiment of the invention, the process begins asall tickets are checked in, for example, as the patrons enter thereserved seating area, such as a stadium or theater, through, forexample, bar code readers, scanners, infrared readers, and/or manuallyor other method where the patron is checked in, either at the gate, seator other location. For example, patrons can optionally check in apredetermined time before the event through a wireless device, Internetconnection, manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. Theimportant point is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons tocheck in, and if the patron fails to check in using a predeterminedprocedure to allow that seat to be provided to another willing patron inaccordance with a process to be described below.

The patron may check in either a predetermined time before or after theevent begins. Currently, such a process is impossible and unthinkable inview of the difficulty reserved seating events have in simply gettingthe patrons seated prior to the beginning of the event. The presentinvention represents a revolutionary process to enhance event enjoyment,earn patron loyalty and optionally provide additional revenues to thetheater/stadium or optionally other patrons with the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, orother predetermined process.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater or event, for example, viamobile telephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, anoptional sub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile isalso satisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriberprofile is not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches foranother possible patron. If the optional profile sub-process issatisfied, then the eligible patron is notified via one or means, suchas announcement, manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletinboard, and/or other means. The patron is then notified and presentedwith the option of moving for free, use of award points, additionalmoney to the theater and/or patron to whose seat is being provided, orother predetermined criteria to obtain the seat. Optionally, a biddingprocess may be initiated that allows various patrons to bid against oneanother. Any standard bidding process may optionally be used. Thepatron, of course has the option to decline, and if so, the processcontinues and returns to the re-allocation process to attempt to locateanother possible patron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. If a predetermined period oftime has not expired, then the re-allocation process may be run again tooptionally continuously re-allocate seats. The patron may optionallystore the up-graded ticket on a wireless device for proof of entrance tothe better seating area. Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section,includes a separate reader device to receive optionally the originalticket that is now re-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket thatmay optionally be received by the patron via the wireless device and/ormanually via a worker in the theater or stadium.

In another aspect of the invention, a registration form is firstcompleted by the user in an initialization process. Subsequently, theuser selects an event and pays for the ticket with, for example, acredit card in a secure e-commerce transaction. Then, in thisembodiment, a bar coded ticket or receipt is generated and printed bythe user. With the bar coded ticket or receipt in hand, the user avoidsthe box office lines and proceeds directly to an attendant or POS whocollects the ticket, verifies the purchase optionally automatically viaa bar code reader, and admits the user to the movie screen. The user isthen eligible to participate in the reallocation, upgrade and/or rewardprocess described herein.

In alternate embodiments, a scanner is utilized by, for example, anattendant who, rather than tearing the ticket stub in half, simply scansthe bar code with the scanner to verify that a ticket purchase hasindeed been made by the user. Similar processes may be used for thepurchase of merchandise and concessions. Furthermore, to eliminatefraud, once a ticket has been scanned into the real time point of salesystem, it cannot be used again. Alternatively, the present invention isimplemented in a fully automated setting without human intervention,except in the event of a failure or when assistance is needed.

In other embodiments, the present invention utilizes credit cards, smartcards, or cards with memory media embedded therein, or other portabledevices, such as wireless phones, wireless pagers, personal digitalassistants, or Internet-ready watches as an alternative or in additionto the printed tickets.

In one embodiment, the present invention relates to upgrading and/orreallocating for the purchasing and provisioning an item utilizing aserver linked to a client via a data communication network. Thisembodiment includes receiving a communication at the server from theclient. The communication includes an order for a purchase of the itemand an identifier associated with an identification device. Thisembodiment also includes updating an account associated with theidentifier to reflect the purchase, accessing the account by utilizingthe identifier at a point of sale server upon presentation of theidentification device to verify the purchase, and provisioning the itemat the point of sale server after verification of the purchase.

In another embodiment, the present invention also relates toreallocating, upgrading and/or awarding for the purchasing and/orprovisioning an item utilizing a server linked to a client via a datacommunication network. This embodiment includes receiving acommunication at the server from the client. The communication includesan order for a purchase of the item. This embodiment also includestransmitting an identifier associated with an account from the server tothe client for storage on an identification device, updating the accountto reflect the purchase, accessing the account at a point of sale serverupon presentation of the identification device by utilizing theidentifier to verify the purchase, and provisioning the item at thepoint of sale server after verification of the purchase. The purchaseris then optionally eligible for the reallocating, upgrading and/orawarding process described herein.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention relates to purchasingand provisioning an item utilizing a server linked to a client via adata communication network. This embodiment includes transmitting acommunication from the client to the server. The communication includesan order for a purchase of the item and causes an account to be updatedthereby reflecting the purchase. The purchase and the account areassociated with an identifier stored on an identification device. Theaccount is accessible upon presentation of the identification device forverifying and provisioning the item. The purchaser is then optionallyeligible for the reallocating, upgrading and/or awarding processdescribed herein.

In still yet another embodiment, the present invention relates topurchasing and provisioning an item utilizing a server linked to aclient via a data communication network. This embodiment includestransmitting an order for a purchase of the item from the client to theserver, associating an identifier with the purchase order and with anidentification device in the possession of or to be transferred to auser, updating an account associated with the identifier to include thepurchase, accessing the account at a point of sale server uponpresentation of the identification device by utilizing the identifier toverify the purchase, and provisioning the item at the point of saleserver after verification of the purchase order. The purchaser is thenoptionally eligible for the reallocating, upgrading and/or awardingprocess described herein.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention relates to purchasingand provisioning an item utilizing a server linked to a client via adata communication network. This embodiment includes receiving acommunication from a user including a purchase order request. In thisembodiment, the user is associated with an identifier. This embodimentalso includes updating an account associated with the identifier toreflect the purchase order, and provisioning the purchase uponpresentation of the identifier. The user is then optionally eligible forthe reallocating, upgrading and/or awarding process described herein.

In one embodiment of the invention, a method at least one ofreallocates, upgrades and awards admittance to events to an eventcustomer via a data communication network. The data communicationnetwork optionally comprises a server, workstations operably connectableto the server, one or more databases operably connectable to the serverand the workstations where the workstations optionally include a webbrowser interface facilitating communication with the server, a point ofsale server operably connectable to the server, a point of sale systemoperably connectable to the point of sale server, and wireless devicesoperably connectable to the server. The wireless devices include atleast one of a smart card, a personal digital assistant, a mobiletelephones, and a mobile data device, and the wireless device comprisingat least one of transmitting and receiving means and transceiver meansfor receiving and transmitting signals.

According to one embodiment, the method includes the sequential,non-sequential and sequence independent steps of receiving acommunication from the event customer, the communication including arequest to obtain admittance to at least one event, the communicationalso including an identifier associated with an identification device,updating an account associated with the identifier to reflect therequest, accessing the account by utilizing the identifier stored on theidentification device at the point of sale system upon presentation ofthe identification device to verify the request, admitting the eventcustomer at the point of sale system after verification of the request,determining a predetermined time period associated with the eventindicative of another event customer from event customers not attendingthe event in accordance with first predetermined criteria, releasing anallocation associated with the another event customer and notifying atleast one of the event customers that are at least one of currentlyattending the event and registered for the at least one of reallocating,reprovisioning, upgrading and awarding responsive to the releasing theallocation, and accepting by at least one of the event customers the atleast one of reallocating, reprovisioning, upgrading and awarding inaccordance with second predetermined criteria.

The communication optionally includes at least one of paymentinformation, an event selection, a venue selection, a concessionselection, and a merchandise selection.

The identification device optionally comprises a memory medium forstoring the identifier. The accessing optionally further comprisesreading the identifier from the identification device with a readingdevice. The account is optionally stored in at least one of the server,the identification device, and the point of sale server. The accountoptionally includes a list of purchased items. The request optionallycomprises at least one of a movie ticket, a sporting event ticket, aconcession, or merchandise.

In other embodiments of the present invention, demographic informationis received from the event customer. In addition, the identificationdevice optionally comprises at least one of a smart card, a credit card,a ticket, a wireless phone, a personal digital assistant, and a wirelessdevice.

The method optionally includes the step of generating at least one of aphysical receipt, a confirmation, and an electronic confirmation with atleast one of the identification device and the point of sale server.

The method optionally includes the step of generating at least one of aphysical receipt, a confirmation, and an electronic confirmation with atleast one of the identification device and the point of sale server, andthe at least one of the physical receipt, the confirmation, and theelectronic confirmation comprises at least one of reserved seating andpurchase information.

The second predetermined criteria optionally includes the event customerwilling to pay at least one of a predetermined price and the highestprice, and wherein the method further comprises the step of billing theevent customer in at least one of real-time or at a later time for theat least one of reallocating, reprovisioning, upgrading and awarding inaccordance with the second predetermined criteria.

The method optionally includes the step of releasing an allocationassociated with the another event customer and the notifying at leastone of the event customers that are at least one of currently attendingthe event and registered for the at least one of reallocating,reprovisioning, upgrading and awarding is performed in accordance with apredetermined algorithm.

The first predetermined criteria optionally includes at least one ofagreement with one or more of the event customers, the event customernot providing notice of non-attendance a first predetermined time periodprior to the event, the event customer not providing notice ofnon-attendance a second predetermined time period after start of theevent, the event customer leaving the event early, and otherpredetermined criteria.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided ofupgrading and awarding admittance to events to an event customer via adata communication network. The data communication network optionallycomprises a server, workstations operably connectable to the server, oneor more databases operably connectable to the server and theworkstations, the workstations optionally including a web browserinterface facilitating communication with the server, a point of salesystem, and wireless devices operably connectable to the server, thewireless devices including at least one of a smart card, a personaldigital assistant, a mobile telephone, and a mobile data device, and thewireless device comprising at least one of transmitting and receivingmeans and transceiver means for receiving and transmitting signals toand from the server.

The method includes the sequential, sequence independent andnon-sequential steps of receiving a communication from the eventcustomer, the communication including a request to obtain admittance toat least one event, the communication also including an identifierassociated with an identification device, processing the requestincluding accessing an account by utilizing the identifier stored on theidentification device at the point of sale system upon presentation ofthe identification device to verify and process the request, andupdating a database indicating that the request was processed, admittingthe event customer at the point of sale system after verification of therequest, determining a predetermined time period associated with theevent indicative of at least one other event customer not attending theevent in accordance with first predetermined criteria, releasing anallocation associated with the at least one other event customer andnotifying at least one of the event customers that are at least one ofcurrently attending the event, previously submitted a request to attendthe event and registered for the event to perform the at least one ofupgrading and awarding responsive to the releasing the allocation, andaccepting by the at least one of the event customers the at least one ofupgrading and awarding in accordance with second predetermined criteria.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided ofupgrading and awarding admittance to events to an event customer via adata communication network. The data communication network optionallyincludes a server, workstations operably connectable to the server, oneor more databases operably connectable to the server and theworkstations, the workstations optionally including a web browserinterface facilitating communication with the server, a point of salesystem, and wireless devices operably connectable to the server, thewireless devices including at least one of a smart card, a personaldigital assistant, a mobile telephone, and a mobile data device, thewireless device comprising at least one of transmitting and receivingmeans and transceiver means for receiving and transmitting signals toand from the server.

The method includes the sequential, non-sequential or sequenceindependent steps of receiving a communication from the event customer,the communication including a request to obtain admittance to at leastone event, the communication also including an identifier associatedwith the event customer, admitting the event customer at the point ofsale system after verification of the request, and updating a databaseindicating that the request was processed, determining firstpredetermined criteria associated with the event indicative of at leastone other event customer not attending the event, releasing anallocation associated with the at least one other event customerresponsive to the determining step, and notifying at least another ofthe event customers to perform the at least one of upgrading andawarding responsive to the releasing the allocation, and accepting bythe at least another of the event customers the at least one ofupgrading and awarding in accordance with second predetermined criteria.

In another embodiment of the invention, a system is provided to upgradeand award admittance to events to an event customer. The system includesa server comprising a processor and a memory medium, the serverconnected to a data communication network, the memory medium containinginstructions for controlling the processor, wherein the processorreceives a communication from the event customer, the communicationincluding a request to obtain admittance to at least one event, thecommunication also including an identifier associated with the eventcustomer, updates a database indicating that the request was processed,determines first predetermined criteria associated with the eventindicative of at least one other event customer not attending the event,releases an allocation associated with the at least one other eventcustomer responsive to the determining step, and notifies at leastanother of the event customers to at least one of upgrade and award theat least another of the event customers with the allocation. The systemalso includes a plurality of wireless devices operably connectable tothe server, the wireless devices including at least one of a smart card,a personal digital assistant, a mobile telephone, and a mobile datadevice, the wireless device comprising at least one of transmitting andreceiving means and transceiver means for receiving and transmittingsignals to and from the server, including accepting by the at leastanother of the event customers the at least one of the upgrade and awardfor the reallocation via at least one of the wireless devices.

In another embodiment of the invention, a system is provided forupgrading and awarding admittance to events to an event customer. Thesystem includes means for receiving a communication from the eventcustomer, the communication including a request to obtain admittance toat least one event, the communication also including an identifierassociated with the event customer, means for admitting the eventcustomer at the point of sale system after verification of the request,and updating a database indicating that the request was processed, meansfor determining first predetermined criteria associated with the eventindicative of at least one other event customer not attending the event,means for releasing an allocation associated with the at least one otherevent customer responsive to the determining step, and notifying atleast another of the event customers to perform the at least one ofupgrading and awarding responsive to the releasing the allocation, andmeans for accepting by the at least another of the event customers theat least one of upgrading and awarding in accordance with secondpredetermined criteria.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method, system, serverarchitecture and/or tangible medium upgrade and award admittance ofevents to an event customer, preferably via a data communicationnetwork. The method includes the sequential, sequence independent andnon-sequential steps of, for example, receiving a communication from theevent customer including a request to obtain admittance to at least oneevent, admitting the event customer, determining first predeterminedcriteria associated with the event indicative of at least one otherevent customer not attending the event, releasing an allocationassociated with the at least one other event customer, and notifying atleast another of the event customers to perform the upgrade and/orreallocation.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method, system, serverarchitecture and/or tangible medium upgrades or awards purchases for acustomer. The method includes the sequential, sequence independent andnon-sequential steps of, for example, receiving a communication from thecustomer including a request to purchase an item, determining firstpredetermined criteria associated with the purchase associated with atleast one other customer, and notifying at least another of the eventcustomers regarding the at least one of upgrade, award and purchase.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method, system, serverarchitecture and/or tangible medium combines, upgrades and/or awardspurchases for a customer. The method includes the sequential, sequenceindependent and non-sequential steps of, for example, receiving acommunication from the customer including a request to purchase an item,determining first predetermined criteria associated with the purchaseand associated with at least one other customer, and notifying the atleast one other customer regarding the at least one of upgrade, awardand purchase.

In another embodiment of the invention, a system is provided forpurchasing, upgrading and awarding an item to a customer. The systemincludes means for receiving a communication from the customer, thecommunication including a request to obtain the item, the communicationalso including an identifier associated with the customer, means forassociating the customer at the point of sale system after verificationof the request, and updating a database indicating that the request wasprocessed, means for determining first predetermined criteria associatedwith the item indicative of at least one other customer associated orinterested in the item, means for releasing an allocation associatedwith the at least another customer, and notifying at least another ofthe customers to perform the at least one of purchasing, upgrading andawarding for the item, and means for accepting by the at least anotherof the customers the at least one of purchasing, upgrading and awardingin accordance with second predetermined criteria.

Thus, any or all of the following advantages may be provided by thepresent invention: decrease costs incurred via printing fewer tickets;decrease the number of employees at the events as a result of increasedhome based printing, wireless device and/or smart card usage; increaseefficiency at concession stands; provide another method and outlet tosell tickets and concessions; sell more tickets using e-mail messages;improve sales of tickets and concessions from key demographicinformation; receive a portion of advertisement sales; improve safetydue to the decrease in the amount of cash handled at the theatres;ensure that parents' money given to children is actually spent on theconcessions; shorter lines; greater convenience at the concession standand point of sale; advance sales; more information about events beforepurchase of ticket; easy way to control a family budget; greater accessto merchandise; improve demographic information to improve sales; directmarketing; higher impact for advertising via e mail messages; and/ormore focused advertising.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofthat follows may be better understood, and in order that the presentcontribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course,additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafterand which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. Inthis respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the inventionin detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited inits application to the details of construction and to the arrangementsof the components set forth in the following description or illustratedin the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and ofbeing practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to beunderstood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are forthe purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially thescientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application. The abstract is neither intended to define theinvention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is itintended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with thevarious features of novelty which characterize the invention, arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention,its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses,reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptivematter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is directed to a prior art Internet capable browser dispenserarchitecture;

FIGS. 2–3 are illustrations of a prior art interactive game system;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a prior art portable computing device fororganizing a sports team;

FIG. 5 is a prior art illustration of a portable computerizedpari-mutuel sports entertainment system;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a prior art method and apparatus for acryptographically assisted commercial network system designed tofacilitate buyer-driven conditional purchase offers;

FIGS. 7–9 show a prior art radio frequency (RF) transmission system;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of Yankee Group projections for an installedbase of PCs that will reach 500 million by 2003;

FIG. 11 shows that mobile network carriers have relied on a variety ofincompatible wireless access standards;

FIG. 12 shows the standard Bluetooth protocol stack;

FIG. 13 illustrates the standard discovery and registration process forJini clients and services;

FIG. 14 shows the three fundamental components in the Salutationarchitecture: functional units, salutation managers, and transportmanagers;

FIG. 15 is an illustration of a control point sending a multicastrequest to a network;

FIG. 16 is an illustration of a service location protocol (SLP) which isan IETF protocol for service discovery and advertisement;

FIG. 17 is an illustration of the Bluetooth stack differing from theclassical seven-layer networking model;

FIG. 18 is an illustration viewing standard L2CAP as the data plane ofthe Bluetooth link layer;

FIG. 19 is an illustration of a Bluetooth transmitter that upconvertsthe baseband information to the frequency-modulated carrier;

FIG. 20 illustrates one embodiment of the logical architecture for thesecurity services, where authentication verifies a claimant's identity;

FIG. 21 is an illustration showing once the ticket arrives at the Webbrowser, it must be secured from tampering;

FIG. 22 illustrates the logic for implementing the ticket-issuanceservice and its interaction with the authentication and user profileservices;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the invention thatincorporates one or more of the architectures or communications methodsdescribed above;

FIGS. 24–37 are flowcharts of various embodiments of the process of thepresent invention;

FIG. 38 is an illustration of a main central processing unit forimplementing the computer processing in accordance with a computerimplemented embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 39 illustrates a block diagram of the internal hardware of thecomputer of FIG. 38;

FIG. 40 is a block diagram of the internal hardware of the computer ofFIG. 38 in accordance with a second embodiment;

FIG. 41 is an illustration of an exemplary memory medium which can beused with disk drives illustrated in FIGS. 38–40;

FIG. 42 is an illustration of the functional operation of the maincentral processing unit illustrated in FIGS. 38–41;

FIG. 43 is a block diagram of an alternative computer system suitablefor implementing the invention;

FIG. 44 is a block diagram showing a portion of the computer system ofFIG. 43 in more detail;

FIG. 45 is an illustration of the architecture of the combined internet,POTS, and ADSL architecture for use in the present invention inaccordance with a first embodiment;

FIG. 46 is an illustration of the architecture of the combined internet,POTS, and ADSL architecture for use in the present invention inaccordance with a second embodiment;

FIG. 47 is an illustration of the architecture of the combined internet,POTS, and ADSL architecture for use in the present invention inaccordance with a third embodiment; and

FIG. 48 is an illustration of the architecture of the combined internet,POTS, and ADSL architecture for use in the present invention inaccordance with a fourth embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION

Reference now will be made in detail to the presently preferredembodiments of the invention. Such embodiments are provided by way ofexplanation of the invention, which is not intended to be limitedthereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate uponreading the present specification and viewing the present drawings thatvarious modifications and variations can be made. For example, featuresillustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used on otherembodiments to yield a still further embodiment. Additionally, certainfeatures may be interchanged with similar devices or features notmentioned yet which perform the same or similar functions. It istherefore intended that such modifications and variations are includedwithin the totality of the present invention.

Driven by a widespread understanding of the Internet's capabilities, thepower of electronic commerce, and advances in wireless technologies anddevices, mobile commerce (m-commerce) is rapidly approaching thebusiness forefront. According to independent research findings,m-commerce—the conduct of business and services over portable, wirelessdevices-will soon be a dominant force in business and society. Forexample:

-   -   IDC, an information technology research firm, reports that 70        percent of all wireless subscribers worldwide will access data        applications via their phones by 2002.    -   The investment firm Robinson Humphrey predicts that, in the US,        50 percent of Internet hits will originate from wireless devices        by 2004.    -   The Yankee Group, a telecommunications research firm, projects        that by 2004 more than 40 percent of wireless users in the US        will access Internet content directly from their mobile devices.

The viability of these projections depends on the power of theunderlying technology drivers and the attractiveness of m-commerceapplications. To compete in a marketplace dominated by wireless devices,businesses must devise effective m-commerce strategies. Buildingsuccessful strategies begins by recognizing the forces drivingm-commerce's emergence.

The US Federal Communication Commission's auctioning of personalcommunication-service spectrum space in the mid-1990s triggered thecurrent rush to wireless communication methods. Wireless communicationnow encompasses not only telephones but appliances, including personaldigital assistants (PDAs).

Internet use has grown on the strength of PC networks. According toYankee Group projections, the installed base of PCs will reach 500million by 2003, as FIG. 10 shows. This huge base is essential tocontinued growth in electronic commerce and other communicationsapplications. Moreover, because these systems will have greater powerand storage capability, as well as the best ever price-performanceratios, more powerful and sophisticated applications will likely emergefor desktop computing and the Internet.

Although these expectations are impressive, PCs still have two limitingcharacteristics. First, users must sit in front of them. Second, evenportable-notebook PCs have to load sof tware, dial into and connect witha network service provider, and await completion of the handshakingprocess before they can launch an Internet application. This sequence isunderstandable, but at best it seems a tolerable nuisance. Hence, thedominant applications are still those that are worth the trouble ittakes for a user to follow this access sequence or, at least, to keepthe computer and applications running.

The aggregate PC installation is substantial, but even more mobilecommunication devices are in use. The Gartner Group and other researchfirms project that by 2004, the installed base of mobile phonesworldwide will exceed 1 billion more than twice the number of PCs. Inaddition, the number of other wireless mobile devices will also increasedramatically. Wireless PDA use will more than triple in the next threeyears. Unlike PCs, these wireless devices require no boot sequence, sopeople can use them as soon as they turn them on-making them attractivefor quick-hit applications.

Just as the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol and thegeneral purpose browser were principal drivers of Internet growth,letting disparate devices interconnect and communicate, similar factorswill simplify the interconnectivity and communication of heterogeneouswireless devices. As FIG. 11 shows, mobile network carriers have reliedon a variety of incompatible wireless access standards.

Recently, however, a common communications technology and uniforminterface standard for presenting and delivering wireless services onmobile devices-wireless application protocol (WAP)—have emerged.

WAP specifications include a microbrowser; scripting similar toJavaScript; access functions; and layered communication specificationsfor sessions, transport, and security. These specifications enableinterface-independent and interoperable applications. Most wirelesshandset and device manufacturers, as well as several service andinfrastructure providers, have adopted the WAP standard.

Current access technologies, including TDMA (time division multipleaccess), CDMA (code division multiple access), and GSM (Global Systemfor Mobile Communication), transmit at 9.6 to 19.2 Kbps. These speedsare dramatically slower than the dial-up rates of desktop PCs connectingto the Internet. Although m-commerce is possible at these bandwidthrates, the slow speeds are not conducive to creating widespread businessor consumer participation.

3G (third-generation) wireless technology will also be available. Inaddition to having greater bandwidth rates, with speeds up to 2 Mbps, 3Gwill support multimedia transmission. Integrating voice, data, and one-or two-way video will let m-commerce run over any wireless device.

M-commerce applications fall into three main categories: transactionmanagement, digital content delivery, and telemetry services. Users willincreasingly initiate a wide range of business transactions from mobiledevices. Online shopping sites tailored to mobile phones and PDAsincluding browsing, selection, purchase, payment, and delivery—havealready emerged. These sites include all the necessary shoppingfeatures, such as online catalogs, shopping carts, and back officefunctions. Online booksellers are among the firms that have alreadyimplemented wireless shopping transactions. Another class of m-commercetransactions involves using wireless devices to initiate and pay forpurchases and services in real time. These kinds of transactions willlikely increase as users gain the capability—and become comfortableenough—to manage them. The highest m-commerce transaction volume willprobably occur in micro transactions. When individuals reach for theire-cash-equipped mobile phones or PDAs—rather than coins—to settletransactions such as subway fees, widespread use of digital cash will bea reality.

Digital content delivery uses the wireless channel's distributioncharacteristics. These m-commerce activities include informationbrowsing-instant retrieval of status information (weather, transitschedules, sports scores, ticket availability, and market prices)—anddirectory services. The CNN Wireless news subscription service and theUPS PDA-linked package tracking and locator service are representativeof emerging content delivery services.

Digital products easily transport to and from wireless devices. Hence,downloading entertainment products—for example, MP3 music—is likely tobecome even more commonplace when 3G arrives. Transferring software,high resolution images, and full-motion advertising messages will alsobecome common activities. The emergence of high-quality display screensand greater bandwidth will undoubtedly trigger the development ofinnovative video applications. Individuals will use wireless devices toaccess, retrieve, store, and display high-resolution video content forentertainment, product demonstration, and distance learning.

The transmission and receipt of status, sensing, and measurementinformation-telemetry services-form the basis for a wide range of newapplications involving mobile devices. Innovations in this area letpeople use wireless phones and appliances to communicate with variousdevices from their homes, offices, or in the field. For instance,delivery drivers will “ping”intelligent dispensing machines or storecomputers to determine where their rolling inventory is needed most orwhich locations need immediate service. Similarly, users will transmitmessages to activate remote recording devices or service systems.

Active m-commerce applications function only when someone directlyinitiates them by transmitting payment details, requesting information,receiving specific content, or retrieving status information. Incontrast, passive applications occur without the user taking anyaction—for example, the automatic collection of toll charges withdedicated cash cards. Integrating digital cash into mobile devices wouldmake these cash cards unnecessary. These wireless devices wouldfacilitate and record payment of toll, mass-transit, fast-food, andother transactions without the user authorizing or enteringidentification information for each individual transaction. Users couldarrange to have their cash chips update automatically by directing thewireless device to contact their money source and download additionaldigital cash whenever necessary.

Popular in Europe, short messages text messages, up to 160 characters inlength, that show up on the recipient's display as they arrive—areexamples of passive content delivery. As digital convergence becomesmore commonplace, all forms of mail will passively go to wirelessdevices, including digitized voice mail, fax documents, and e-mail.Passive security, intrusion, and emergency telemetry services willrefine the monitoring of facilities and individuals. Any unusual eventor unacceptable condition will trigger user notification, regardless oflocation. Airlines are testing technology that will let them alertpassengers, especially frequent fliers, to seat upgrades, schedulechanges, and so on, through wireless devices. Some airlines already haveprototype telemetry systems that transmit this kind of information topassengers as soon as they enter the airport or pass near a kiosk-likedevice.

Passive m-commerce telemetry is the foundation of still another form ofinteractive marketing. Stores will be able to market their products andservices by transmitting promotional coupons and messages to passers by:“Come in and enjoy a complimentary cup of our new coffee blend,” or “Gethalf off, if you make your purchase within the next 30 minutes.” Thistype of marketing may give rise to a new challenge: managing m-junkmessages without turning off your wireless device.

The technology to facilitate m-commerce is within reach, even asbarriers to its development fall away. Applications and wireless devicespromise to evolve together, each driving the introduction of innovativeand powerful features in the other. The opportunity and challenge is forbusiness to develop strategies that capitalize on the strengths ofmobile commerce, thereby helping it to compete in an increasinglydigital marketplace. The greatest challenge to structuring such astrategy may be creating the innovations that will meet the needs andexpectations of consumers and commercial participants. Additionaldetails regarding the above may be found in James A. Senn, The Emergenceof M-Commerce, IEEE COMPUTER (December 2000), incorporated herein byreference and all references cited there incorporated herein byreference.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the process beginsas all tickets are checked in, for example, as the patrons enter thereserved seating area, such as a stadium or theater, through, forexample, bar code readers, scanners, infrared readers, and/or manuallyor other method where the patron is checked in, either at the gate, seator other location. For example, patrons can optionally check in apredetermined time before the event through a wireless device, Internetconnection, manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. Theimportant point is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons tocheck in, and if the patron fails to check in using a predeterminedprocedure, to allow that seat to be provided to another willing patronin accordance with a process to be described below. The patron may checkin either a predetermined time before or after the event begins.Currently, such a process is impossible and unthinkable in view of thedifficulty reserved seating events have in simply getting the patronsseated prior to the beginning of the event. The present inventionrepresents a revolutionary process to enhance event enjoyment, earnpatron loyalty and optionally provide additional revenues to thetheater/stadium or optionally other patrons with the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, orother predetermined process.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. Optionally, a bidding process may beinitiated that allows various patrons to bid against one another. Anystandard bidding process may optionally be used. The patron, of coursehas the option to decline, and if so, the process continues and returnsto the re-allocation process to attempt to locate another possiblepatron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. If a predetermined period oftime has not expired, then the re-allocation process may be run again tooptionally continuously re-allocate seats. The patron may optionallystore the up-graded ticket on a wireless device for proof of entrance tothe better seating area. Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section,includes a separate reader device to receive optionally the originalticket that is now re-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket thatmay optionally be received by the patron via the wireless device and/ormanually via a worker in the theater or stadium.

In accordance with one observation of the present invention, mobiledevice and computer users increasingly face the management of manycomputing devices. One reason is the expansion of computing environmentsin the home and office, as printers, scanners, digital cameras, andother peripherals are integrated into networked environments. Anotherreason is the proliferation of mobile devices such as laptop andpalm-sized computers, cellular phones, and pagers. Because these devicestrade functionality for suitable form factors and low power consumption,they are necessarily “peripheral-poor” and must therefore establishconnections to neighboring devices for storage, faxing, high-speednetwork access, and printing. It is easy to become frustrated whendealing with the configuration and interaction of such a multitude ofdevices. Service discovery technologies were developed to reduce thisfrustration and to simplify the use of mobile devices in a network byallowing them to be “discovered,” configured, and used by other deviceswith a minimum of manual effort. Although most of these “servicediscovery suites” promise similar functionality•namely, reducedconfiguration hassles, improved device cooperation, and automateddiscovery of required services•they come at the problem from differentphilosophical and technical approaches. Since none of these technologiesis a superset of the others and none is mature enough to dominate themarket, interoperation among them will require bridging mechanisms. Fivecompeting technologies are described that may be used in conjunctionwith the present invention, however, other technologies may also oralternatively be used.

Bluetooth is a low-power, short-range, wireless radio system beingdeveloped by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, and industryconsortium whose member companies include Ericsson, Nokia, and IBM. Theradio has a range of 10 meters and provides up to seven1-megabit-per-second links to other Bluetooth devices. Bluetoothoperates in the 2.4-GHz industrial scientific and medical (ISM) band tomaximize international acceptance and employs a frequency-hopping systemto minimize interference. The low-level communications are detailed inthe Bluetooth specification.

Bluetooth has a small form factor; complete systems can be as small as2-cm square. The technology supports both isochronous and asynchronousservices. A simple isochronous application might link a cellular phoneand wireless headset, where the headset and base are both Bluetoothdevices. More complicated applications include automatic discovery ofwireless network connections and automatic synchronization of databetween several Bluetooth devices.

FIG. 12 shows the Bluetooth protocol stack. At the bottom, the radio andbaseband layers provide the short-range, frequency-hopping radioplatform. The link manager protocol (LMP) handles data link setup andprovides authentication and encryption services. The logical linkcontrol and adaptation protocol (L2CAP) supports multiplexedconnectionless and connection-oriented communication over the LMP layer.L2CAP is proprietary, but other network protocols, such as IP, can bebuilt on top of it. L2CAP is also used by higher level protocols. Forexample, FIG. 12 shows links to the Hayes-compatible AT (ATtention)protocol, which provides a standard interface for controlling remotecellular phones and modems; RFComm, which emulates an RS-232 serialinterface; a simple object exchange protocol (OBEX), which enhancesBluetooth's interoperability with IrDA; and Bluetooth's servicediscovery protocol (SDP).

Groups of up to eight Bluetooth devices can form ad hoc networks calledpiconets to communicate, share services, and synchronize data. In eachpiconet, a master device coordinates the other Bluetooth devices(including setting the 1,600-hops-per-second frequency-hopping pattern).Individual devices can participate in more than one piconet at a timeand can be in one of several states:

-   -   Standby•the device is conserving power and waiting to connect to        another Bluetooth device.    -   Inquire•the device is searching for nearby Bluetooth devices.    -   Page•the device is connecting to another Bluetooth device.    -   Connected•the device is connected to another Bluetooth device.    -   Hold and park•the device is participating in a piconet with        varying degrees of power savings.

The Bluetooth SDP provides a simple API for enumerating the devices inrange and browsing available services. It also supports stop rules thatlimit the duration of searches or the number of devices returned. Clientapplications use the API to search for available services either byservice classes, which uniquely identify types of devices (such asprinters or storage devices), or by matching attributes (such as a modelnumber or supported protocol). Attributes that describe the servicesoffered by a Bluetooth device are stored as a service record and aremaintained by the device's SDP server.

The distinction between service classes and descriptive attributes isnot well defined, but service classes generally define broad devicecategories, such as Printer, Color Printer, and PostScriptPrinter, whileattributes allow a finer level of description. Manufacturers musteventually standardize these service classes for maximalinteroperability between Bluetooth devices.

Unlike higher level service discovery technologies such as Jini,Bluetooth's SDP does not provide a mechanism for using discoveredservices•specific actions required to use a service must be provided bya higher level protocol. However, it does define a standard attributeProtocolDescriptorList, which enumerates appropriate protocols forcommunicating with a service.

Bluetooth devices provide data security through unique 48-bitidentifiers, 128-bit authentication keys, and 8- to 128-bit encryptionkeys. Strong authentication is possible because no internationalrestrictions prevent it, but Bluetooth devices must negotiate encryptionstrength to comply with laws restricting encryption. Note that Bluetoothdevices must be paired to provide them with matching secret keys thatwill support authentication. Once paired, Bluetooth devices canauthenticate each other and protect sensitive data from snooping.Regardless of encryption strength, Bluetooth's fast frequency-hoppingscheme makes snooping difficult.

Jini is a service discovery and advertisement system that relies onmobile code and leverages the platform independence of the Javalanguage. The current Jini implementation is based on TCP and UDP, butimplementations based on other network protocols are certainly possible.The major requirements are reliable, stream-oriented communication and amulticast facility. Jini's language-centric approach allows a flexibledefinition of service; for example, a service can be implementedentirely in software and, after discovery, can be downloaded andexecuted entirely on the client. Examples of such algorithmic servicesmight include an implementation of a proprietary algorithm for shading apolygon or formatting a document to meet an organizational standard. Onthe other hand, Jini also requires each device either to run a Javavirtual machine or to associate itself with a device that can execute aJVM on its behalf. For example, a Jini “device chassis” mightJini-enable a number of “dumb” devices, making their services availableto Jini clients.

Jini entities consist of services, look up servers that catalogavailable services, and clients that require services. A service canalso be a client; for example, a telescope might provide pictures to aPDA as a service and look for printing services as a client. All serviceadvertisements and requests go through a lookup server. FIG. 13illustrates the discovery and registration process for Jini clients andservices.

To register service availability or to discover services, a service orclient must first locate one or more lookup servers by using a multicastrequest protocol. This request protocol terminates with the invocationof a uni cast discovery protocol, which clients and services use tocommunicate with a specific lookup server. The unicast protocolculminates in the transfer of an instance of the ServiceRegistrar class,a “remote control” for the lookup server. A lookup server can use themulti-cast announcement protocol to announce its presence on thenetwork. When a lookup server invokes this protocol, clients andservices that have registered interest in receiving announcements of nowlookup services are notified.

These three protocols are encapsulated in a set of Jini classes. Forexample, to find lookup services, a client or service need only createan instance of LookupDiscovery.

Jini uses Java's remote method invocation (RMI) facility for allinteractions between either a client or a service and the lookupserver). Once a lookup server has been discovered and an instance ofServiceRegistrar is available, services can register their availability,and clients can search for needed services by involving ServiceRegistrarmethods.

Jini associates a proxy, or remote control object, with each serviceinstance. A service advertises its availability by registering itsobject in one or more lookup servers via the register( ) method. Thismethod takes several arguments, including an instance of Serviceitem,which contains a universally unique identifier for the service, itsattribute set, and its remote control object. This object may eitherimplement the service entirely (in the case of an algorithmic servicesuch as the implementation of a polygon-shading algorithm), or providemethods for accessing the service over the network. The lease durationparameter of register( ) specifies the service's intended lifetime. Theservice is responsible for renewing the lease within the time specifiedto maintain its listing. The lookup server is free to adjust the leasetime, which is returned in a ServiceRegistration object.

When a service first contacts a lookup server, the server generates aunique identifier for it; the service uses this ID in all futureregistrations. The service identifier lets clients request a specificservice explicitly and recognize when services reported by differentlookup servers are identical.

To use a service, a device must first secure an instance of the proxyobject for it. From a client point of view, the location of the serviceproxied by this remote control object is unimportant, because the objectencapsulates the location of the service and the protocol necessary tooperate it.

Clients use the lookup( ) method in ServiceRegistrar to discoverservices. This method takes a single argument, an instance ofServiceTemplate. The ServiceTemplate constructor takes severalarguments. The first is the service identifier. If the serviceidentifier is null, then arrays of types (Java classes, typicallyinterfaces) and attributes (attribute objects) are used to matchservices. A service matches if its class matches of the classes in thetypes array and if, for each of the attribute objects, and all non-nullmembers match one of the service's registered attributes. The returnvalue from lookup( ) is an instance of ServiceMatches, which contains anarray of remote control objects for the services that match. Finally,the notify( ) method allows a client to request an asynchronousnotification when services matching a ServiceTemplate instance becomeavailable. This method uses Jini's distributed events mechanism, whichextends Java's infrastructure for eventing across JVMs.

Jini depends on Java's security model, which provides tools like digitalcertificates, encryptionm and control over mobile code activities suchas opening and accepting socket connections, reading and writing tospecific files, and using native methods Systems administrators canestablish different policies depending on where the Java code originated(for example, the local file system or a remote machine).

Salutation is an architecture for service discovery under development bythe Salutation Consortium, which includes members from both industry andacademia. The consortium's goal is to build a royalty-free architecturefor service advertisement and discovery that is independent of aparticular network transport.

FIG. 14 shows the three fundamental components in the Salutationarchitecture: functional units, salutation managers, and transportmanagers. From a client's point of view, a functional unit defines aservice. Functional units already specified or under consideration bythe Salutation Consortium include printing, faxing, and documentstorage. There is also work on a functional unit specification to allowdiscovery of Hewlett-Packard JetSend-enabled devices. The specificationsdefine attributes that characterize a service (for example, in the caseof a printer, double-sided capability, color, and so on).

The functional unit Doc Storage defines file attributes that can be usedto find information in temporary or long-term storage. For, example, aclient can search for operating system-specific drivers or softwarenecessary to interact with a newly discovered device. The client simplyqueries a Salutation manager for the necessary Doc Storage functionalunit, extracts the application or device driver and installs it, thusproviding limited code mobility.

Salutation managers function as services brokers; they help clients findneeded services and let services register their availability. Servicesand register and unregister functional units with the local Salutationmanager by using the API calls slmRegisterCapabilities( ) andslmUnregisterCapabilities( ), respectively. A client can use theslmSearchCapability( ) call to determine if Salutation managers haveregistered specific functional units. Under the current version of thearchitecture, applications can query only the local Salutation manager.Future versions will allow remote Salutation managers to be specified.Once a functional unit is discovered, slmQueryCapability( ) can be usedto verify that a functional unit has certain capabilities. The API alsoincludes calls for initialization/version checking, availabilitychecking, and communication between clients and services. (An APIsimulator is available at http://www.salutation.org/simulate.htm.)

Salutation managers fill a role similar to lookup servers in Jini, butthey can also manage the connections between clients and services. ASalutation manager can operate in one of the three “personalities”:

-   -   In native personality, Salutation managers are used only for        discovery. They establish a connection between a client and        service but perform no further operations on the data stream.    -   The emulated personality is similar to the native the        connection, but in the case they transfer native data packets        encapsulated in Salutation manager protocol format, providing a        bridge when no common message protocol exists between client and        service. The Salutation manager is ignorant of the semantic        content of the data stream between client and service.    -   In Salutation personality, Salutation managers establish the        connection between client and service and they also mandate the        specific format of the data transferred. The Salutation        architecture defines the data formats.

A transport manager isolates the implementation of the Salutationmanager from particular transport-layer protocols and thereby givesSalutation network transport independence. To support a new networktransport requires a new transport manager to be written, but does notrequire modifications to the Salutation manager. Like Jini (and UPnP),Salutation requires a network transport protocol that supports reliable,stream-oriented communication. Initial implementations are based on IPand IrDA because of their widespread use.

Transport managers also locate the Salutation managers on theirrespective network segments via either multicast, static configuration,or reference to a centralized directory. Discovery of other Salutationmanagers allows a particular Salutation managers to determine whichfunctional units have been registered and to allow clients access tothese remote services. Communication between Salutation managers isbased on remote procedure call (RPC). This interaction between remoteSalutation managers contrasts with other registry-based servicediscovery mechanisms (for example, Jini and Service Location Protocol),where clients would be responsible for locating remote registries. TheSalutation specification currently does not address security issues.

A lightweight version of Salutation, called Salutation-Lite, has beendeveloped for resource-limited devices. It is based primarily on IrDA toleverage the large number of infrared-capable devices. Salutation-Litefocuses primarily on service discovery. It uses the functional unitsOpEnvironment and Display to describe the operating system, processorclass, amount of memory and display characteristics of palm-sizeddevices. By noting the particular characteristics of the device, serverscan provide appropriate drivers and software wirelessly. Salutation-Liteimplementations can be down-loaded free from the Salutation website athttp://www.salutation.org.

UPnP is a proposed architecture for service advertisement and discoverysupported by the UPnP Forum, headed by Microsoft. Unlike Jini, whichdepends on mobile code, UPnP aims to standardize the protocols used bydevices to communicate, using XML. The UPnP specifications is still inan preliminary stage; major issues like security have not yet beenaddressed.

UPnP's device model is hierarchical. In a compound device (for example,a VCR/TV combo), the root device is discoverable, and a client (called acontrol point) can address the individual subdevices (for example, atuner) independently. Virtual Web servers in the device act as entrypoints for interacting with and controlling it. Devices that don't speakUPnP directly are called bridge devices. They can be integrated into aUPnP network in a manner similar to the integration in a Jini devicechassis: A bridge maps between UPnP and device-native protocols.

The UPnP specification described device addressing, serviceadvertisement and discovery, device control, eventing, and presentation.The eventing facility allows clients to watch for significant changes inthe state of a discovered service. It functions similarly to Jini'sdistributed event facility. Presentation allows a client to obtain a GUIfor a discovered device's virtual Web servers. Several protocols supportthese functions:

-   -   AutoIP, a simple protocol that allows devices to dynamically        claim IP addresses in the absence of a DHCP server;    -   Simple service discovery protocol (SSDP), the UPnP mechanism for        service discovery and advertisement;    -   Simple object access protocol (SOAP), a protocol for remote        procedure calls based on XML and HTTP that is used for device        control after discovery; and    -   Generic Event Notification Architecture (GENA), a UPnP        subscription-based event notification service based on HTTP.

When devices are introduced into a network, they multicast “alive”messages to control points. When they wish to cancel availability oftheir services, they send “byebye” messages. In SSDP, each service hasthree associated IDs—service type, service name, and location—which aremulticast when services are advertised. Any of these IDs can also beused to search for services.

To search, a control point sends a UPD multicast request to the network,as shown in FIG. 15. Matching services send unicast responses to theclient. These responses contain URLs, each pointing to a XML descriptiondocument that describes a service. A description document containsseveral important items:

-   -   A presentation URL allows entry to a device's root page, which        provides a GUI for device control.    -   A control URL is the entry point to the device's control server,        which accepts device-specific commands to control the device.    -   An event subscription URL can be used by clients to subscribe to        the device's event service. The client provides an event sink        URL in the subscription request. Significant state changes in        the device result in a notification to the client's event sink        URL.    -   A service control protocol definition describes the protocol for        interacting with the device.

The service control protocol (SCP) definition allows APIs to beconverted to device-specific commands, shielding the application levelfrom details of particular devices. After retrieving the descriptiondocument, a UPnP component on the control point called the rehydrator is“plumbed” with a definition of the device's SCP. This component thensends device-specific commands via the device's control URL. SOAP isused for this interaction.

SSDP is similar to the Internet Engineering Task Force's servicelocation protocol, but it lacks a query facility that can search forservices by attributes. Further, SLP incorporates security measures andcan interact with the IETF standards-track dynamic host configurationprotocol (DHCP) and the lightweight directory protocol (LDAP). Finally,SSDP specifications currently limit discovery to a single subnet. SinceUPnP does not use a registry, it is also likely to generatesignificantly more network traffic than SLP.

Service location protocol (SLP) is an IETF protocol for servicediscovery and advertisement as illustrated in FIG. 16. It is currentlyat the “proposed standard” stage along the IETF standards track. UnlikeJini, Salutation, and UPnP, which all aspire to some degree oftransport-level independence, SLP is designed solely for IP-basednetworks. It provides a set of C and Java bindings that provide servicediscovery and advertisement functions to application software.

SLP comprises three entities: service agents (SAs), user agents (UAs),and directory agents (DAs). SAs advertise the location and attributes ofavailable services, while UAs discover the location and attributes ofservices needed by client software. UAs can discover services by issuinga directory-like query to the network. DAs cache information aboutavailable services. Unlike Jini, SLP can operate without directoryservers. The presence of one or more DAs can substantially improveperformance, however, by reducing the number of multicast messages andthe amount of network bandwidth used. In fact, if DHCP is used toconfigure SLP agents with the location of DAs, then multicast iscompletely unnecessary. SLP also interoperates with LDAP, so servicesregistered with an SLP DA can be automatically registered in an LDAPdirectory. This eliminates the need to reconfigure clients that alreadydiscover services using LDAP.

SLP has several mechanisms for discovering DAs:

-   -   In passive discovery, SAs and UAs listen for multicast        announcements for DAs, which periodically repeat these        advertisements.    -   In active discovery, SAs and UAs multicast SLP requests or use        DHCP to discover DAs. When a DA is present, SAs and UAs use        unicast communication to, respectively, register their services        and find appropriate services.

In the absence of DAs, UAs multicast requests for service and receiveunicast responses directly from the SAs that control matching services.This tends to increase bandwidth consumption, but provides a simplermodel, appropriate for small networks (such as a home LAN).

SLP services are advertised through a service URL, which contains allinformation necessary to contact a service. Clients use the service URLto connect to the service. The protocol used between the client andserver is outside the scope of the SLP specification. This separation issimilar to Bluetooth, where the SDP does not specifically address howdevices will communicate.

Service templates define an attribute set for each service type (aprinter, for example). The attributes include a specification of theattribute types and information about default and allowed values; theyare used to differentiate between services of the same type and tocommunicate configuration information to UAs.

SLP does not define the protocols for communication between clients andservices, and so its security model concentrates on preventing themalicious propagation of false information about service locations. SAscan include digital signatures when registering so DAs and UAs canverify their identity. Digital signatures can also be required when DAsadvertise their availability, allowing UAs and SAs to avoid rouge DAs(that is, those without a proper signature). As with Jini, setting upthe security features of SLP requires some configuration effort, but theeffort can be well worth it, particularly in open environments.

For service discovery to become pervasive, either a single servicediscovery technology must dominate or the most commonly usedtechnologies must be made interoperable. Currently, bridging seems to bethe most promising prospect for interoperability.

Implementations of certain low-level functions of service discovery(such as discovering registries) are interchangeable. For example, theSalutation Consortium uses SLP for service discovery beyond the localsubnet. This lets the Salutation manager search for SLP DAs, and thenuse SLP to register functional units and search for requested services.

A Jini-SLP bridge has also been developed, which allows services lackinga JVM to participate in Jini system. The heart of the Jini-SLP bridge isa special SLP UA that registers the availability of “Jini-capable” SLPSAs. To do this, Jini-capable SLP services advertise the availability ofa Jini driver factory. The UA discovers all SAs with driver factoriesand registers them with one or more Jini registered SAs, it downloadsthe driver factory from the lookup server and uses it to instantiate aJava object to drive the service. Note that the SLP SAs are not requiredto host a Java virtual machine—the Java code installed on the SAs isstatic. Similar schemes are possible for the other technologies; forexample, it should be possible to Jini-enable UPnP services in this way.

Each service discovery technology has advantages and disadvantages.Currently, interoperability efforts are perhaps the most important forcein service discovery, since it is very unlikely that devicemanufacturers will embrace multiple service discovery technologies onlow-cost devices. Additional details regarding the above may be found inGolden G. Richard III, Service Advertisement and Discover, IEEE InternetComputing (September–October 2000), incorporated herein by reference andall references cited there incorporated herein by reference. Additionaldetail is provided herewith regarding Bluetooth protocol. The Bluetoothspecifications define a radio frequency (RF) wireless communicationinterface and the associated set of communication protocols and usageprofiles.

The link speed, communication range, and transmit power level forBluetooth were chosen to support low-cost, power-efficient, single-chipimplementations of the current technology. In fact, Bluetooth is thefirst attempt at making a single-chip radio that can operate in the2.4-GHz ISM (industrial, scientific, and medical) RF band.

While most early Bluetooth solutions are dual chip, vendors haverecently announced single-chip versions as well. The Bluetoothspecification consists of two parts: core and profiles.

The core specification defines all layers of the Bluetooth protocolstack. As shown in FIG. 17, the Bluetooth stack differs from theclassical seven-layer networking model in some ways. These differencesare primarily to support ad hoc connectivity among participating nodes,while conserving power and accommodating devices that lack resources tosupport all layers of the classical networking stack.

The radio is the lowest layer. Its interface specification defines thecharacteristics of the radio front end, frequency bands, channelarrangements, permissible transmit power levels, and receiversensitivity level. The next layer is the baseband, which carries outBluetooth's physical (PITY) and media access control (MAC) processing.This includes tasks such as device discovery, link formation, andsynchronous and asynchronous communication with peers. Bluetooth peersmust exchange several control messages for the purpose of configuringand managing the baseband connections. These message definitions arepart of the link manager protocol (LMP). The functional entityresponsible for carrying out the processing associated with LMP iscalled the link manager.

Bluetooth is unique in offering the front-end RF processing integratedwith the baseband module. On-chip integration lowers the cost of thenetwork interface, and the small size makes it easy to embed Bluetoothchips in devices such as cell phones and PDAs. A Bluetooth chip can beconnected to its host processor using USB, UART, or PC-card interfaces.

The Host Controller Interface (HCl) specification defines a standardinterface-independent method of communicating with the Bluetooth chip.The software stack on the host processor communicates with the Bluetoothhardware using HCl commands. Since no hardware-specific knowledge isneeded, the Bluetooth stack software can easily be ported from oneBluetooth chip to another. The HCl layer is part of the Bluetooth stack,but it does not constitute a peer-to-peer communication layer since theHCl command and response messages do not flow over the air link.

The logical link control and adaptation protocol (L2CAP) specificationcan be viewed as Bluetooth's link layer. Usually, L2CAP and layers aboveit are implemented in software. L2CAP delivers packets received fromhigher layers to the other end of the link. Bluetooth devices canestablish an L2CAP connection as soon as they are in range of eachother. A client device then needs to discover the services provided bythe server device. The service discovery protocol (SDP) defines themeans by which the client device can discover services as well as theirattributes. The SDP design has been optimized for Bluetooth. It definesonly the discovery mechanisms; the methods for accessing those servicesare outside its scope.

The RFCOMM specification defines a method of emulating the RS-232 cableconnection on top of the Bluetooth airlink. RFCOMM supports legacyapplications that use the COM port to communicate with the peer host.For example, point-to-point (PPP) protocols expect a serial lineinterface from the lower layer. Since PPP provides a packet-orientedinterface to the higher layers, all packet-based network and transportprotocols, including TCP/IP, can the supported on top of PPP. Moreefficient methods of running IP over Bluetooth are currently underdevelopment.

Vendors can use the services offered by the Bluetooth stack to create avariety of applications. Because interoperability is crucial toBluetooth's operation, the Bluetooth SIG has defined profilespecifications to support it. The profiles specify controller and stackparameter settings as well as the features and procedures required forinterworking among Bluetooth devices. All vendor implementations ofthese profiles are expected to be interoperable. The Bluetoothcertification authority uses the profiles to test and certifycompliance, and grants use of the Bluetooth logo only to products thatconform to the methods and procedures defined in the profiles.

The 2.4-GHz ISM band in which Bluetooth operates is globally availablefor license-free use. Europe and the United States allocate 83.5 MHz tothis band, but Spain, France, and Japan allocate less. To accommodatethese differences, 79 channels spaced 1 MHz apart are defined for Europeand the U.S., and 23 RF channels spaced 1 MHz apart are defined forSpain, France, and Japan. Efforts are under way to open up the fullwidth of the spectrum in Spain and France, as well as in Japan so thatBluetooth devices would function worldwide.

Bluetooth is a frequency-hopping spread-spectrum system. This means thatthe radio hops through the full spectrum of 79 or 23 RF channels using apseudorandom hopping sequence. The hopping rate of 1,600 hops per secondprovides good immunity against other sources of interference in the2.4-GHz band. The link speed is 1 Mbps, which is easily achieved using asimple modulation technique (Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying, or GFSK).A more complex modulation technique could achieve a higher rate, butGFSK keeps the radio design simple and low cost.

The radio front end is usually the most costly part of a wirelessnetwork interface. In typical radio receivers, the RF filters,oscillators, and image-reject mixers process input signals at highfrequencies. Such circuits require expensive materials. To keep costsdown, Bluetooth recommends shifting the input signal to a lowerintermediate frequency (IF, around 3 MHz), which allows on-chipconstruction of low-power filters using CMOS material. Shifting to lowIF, however, creates new problems, such as reduced receiver sensitivity.Recommended receiver sensitivity for Bluetooth is −70 dBm or better. Thecomparable number for IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs is about −90 dBm). Thus,for the same transmit power, the range for Bluetooth is shorter than itis for 802.11 WLAN.

A set of Bluetooth devices sharing a common channel is called a piconet.A piconet is a star-shaped configuration in which the device at thecenter performs the role of master and all other devices operate asslaves. Up to seven slaves can be active and served simultaneously bythe master. If the master needs to communicate with more than sevendevices, it can do so by first instructing active slave devices toswitch to low-power park mode and then inviting other parked slaves tobecome active in the piconet. This juggling act can be repeated, whichallows a master to serve a large number of slaves.

Most envisioned Bluetooth applications involve local communication amongsmall groups of devices. A piconet configuration consisting of two,three, or up to eight devices is ideally suited to meet thecommunication needs of such applications. When many groups of devicesneed to be active simultaneously, each group can form a separatepiconet. The slave nodes in each piconet stay synchronized with themaster clock and hop according to a channel-hopping sequence that is afunction of the master's node address. Since channel-hopping sequencesare pseudorandom, the probability of collision among piconets is small.Piconets with overlapping coverage can coexist and operateindependently. Nonetheless, when the degree of overlap is high, theperformance of each piconet starts to degrade.

In some usage scenarios, however, devices in different piconets may needto communicate with each other. Bluetooth defines a structure calledscatternet to facilitate interpiconet communication. A scatternet isformed by interconnecting multiple piconets. As shown on the right sideof FIG. 17, the connections are formed by bridge nodes, which aremembers of two or more piconets. A bridge node participates in eachmember piconet on a time-sharing basis. After staying in a piconet forsome time, the bridge can turn to another piconet by switching to itshopping sequence. By cycling through all member piconets, the bridgenode can send and receive packets in each piconet and also forwardpackets from one piconet to another.

A bridge node can be a slave in both piconets or be a slave in one and amaster in another. For example, consider a room full of people, whereeach person has a cell phone and a cordless headset. When users speakinto their headsets, only the cell phones paired with their headsetsshould pick up the signal. In this example, each headset and cell phonepair constitutes a separate piconet. Now suppose these users also wantto send text messages from their cell phones to one another. This willbe possible only if all piconets are interconnected to form a largescatternet.

Bluetooth uses a procedure known as inquiry for discovering otherdevices; it uses paging to subsequently establish connections with them.Both inquiry and paging are asymmetric procedures. In other words, theyinvolve the inquirer and the inquired (as well as the pager or thepaged) devices to perform different actions. This implies that when twonodes set up a connection, each needs to start from a different initialstate; otherwise, they would never discover each other. The profilespecifications play an important role here, defining the requiredinitial state for each device in all usage scenarios. A symmetricprocedure for establishing connections is an ongoing topic of research.

The inquiry and paging are conceptually simple operations, but thefrequency-hopping nature of the physical layer makes the low-leveldetails quite complex. Two nodes cannot exchange messages until theyagree to a common channel-hopping sequence as well as the correct phasewithin the chosen sequence. Bluetooth solves this problem simply bymandating the use of a specific inquiry-hopping sequence known to alldevices. During inquiry, both nodes (one is the listener and the otheris the sender) hop using the same sequence; but the sender hops fasterthan the listener, transmitting a signal on each channel and listeningbetween transmissions for an answer. When more than one listener ispresent, their replies may collide. To avoid the collision, listenersdefer their replies until expiration of a random backoff timer.Eventually the sender device collects some basic information from thelisteners, such as the device address and the clock offsets. Thisinformation is subsequently used to page the selected listener device.

The communication steps during the paging procedure are similar, exceptthat the paging message is unicast to a selected listener, so thelistener need not back off before replying. The sender also has a betterestimate of the listener's clock, which enables it to communicate withthe listener almost instantaneously. Upon receiving an ACK for thepaging message, the sender becomes the master and the listener becomesthe slave of the newly formed piconet, and both nodes switch to thepiconet's channel-hopping sequence. Later, if necessary, the master andslave roles can be swapped.

The steps for admitting a new slave into an existing piconet areslightly more complex. The master can either start discovering new nodesin its neighborhood and invite them to join the piconet or, instead,wait in scan (listen) state and be discovered by other nodes. With bothoptions, communication in the original piconet must be suspended for theduration of the inquiry and paging process. The latency of admitting anew node into the piconet can be large if the master does not switch tothe inquiry or scan modes frequently. This latency can be reduced onlyat the cost of some piconet capacity. The study of this trade-off isanother topic of ongoing research.

Bluetooth offers different low-power modes for improving battery life.Piconets are formed on demand when communication among devices is readyto take place. At all other times, devices can be either turned off orprogrammed to wake up periodically to send or receive inquiry messages.When a piconet is active, the slaves stay powered on to communicate withthe master. It is possible to switch a slave into a low-power modewhereby it sleeps most of the time and wakes up only periodically.

Three types of low-power modes have been defined:

-   -   Hold mode is used when a device should be put to sleep for a        specified length of time. As described earlier, the master can        put all its slaves in the hold mode to suspend activity in the        current piconet while it searches for new members and invites        them to join.    -   Sniff mode is used to put a slave in a low-duty cycle mode,        whereby it wakes up periodically to communicate with the master.    -   Park mode is similar to the sniff mode, but it is used to stay        synchronized with the master without being an active member of        the piconet. The park mode enables the master to admit more than        seven slaves in its piconet.

As soon as a piconet is formed, communication between the master and theslave nodes can begin. The piconet channel is divided into625-microsecond intervals, called slots, where a different hop frequencyis used for each slot. The channel is shared between the master and theslave nodes using a frequency-hop/time-division-duplex (FH/TDD) schemewhereby master-slave and slavemaster communications take turns.Slave-to-slave communication is not supported at the piconet layer. Iftwo slaves need to communicate peer to peer, they can either form aseparate piconet or use a higher layer protocol, such as IP over PPP, torelay the messages via the master. At a 1-Mbps link speed, a 625microsecond slot time is equivalent to the transmission time of 625bits. However, a single slot packet size in Bluetooth is only 366 bits.This reserves enough guard time to let the frequency synthesizers hop tothe next channel frequency and stabilize. Discounting space for theheaders leaves 30 bytes for the user payload.

To transmit real-time voice, an application must reserve a slot in bothdirections at regular intervals. In Bluetooth terminology, this iscalled a synchronous (SCO) link. An SCO link can transporttelephone-grade voice. The speech coder generates 10 bytes every 1.25milliseconds. Since a baseband packet can carry up to 30 bytes in eachslot, only one slot in each direction is needed every 3.75 ms (or everysixth slot). The packet type that carries 30 voice bytes is called anHV3 packet. This packet is transmitted without coding or protection, andis not retransmitted if it is lost.

To cope with bit errors when the channel conditions are not perfect,some forward error correction (FEC) should be added to the voicepayload. An HV2 packet carries 20 bytes of voice plus 10 bytes ofredundant data (2/3 FEC code). Since 20 bytes of speech is generated in2.5 ms, the SCO link should reserve one slot in each direction every 2.5ms (or every fourth slot). To cope with extreme channel conditions, thebaseband specification also defines an HV1 packet that carries only 10bytes of speech and 20 bytes of FEC code. An HV 1 SCO link uses up theentire channel capacity. This means that all data transfer sessions willbe suspended when an HV 1 SCO connection is in progress.

Data communication between a master-slave pair involves a different setof considerations. For example, the data payload must be protected by acyclic redundancy check (CRC) so that the receiver can determine whetherthe received bits are in error. When losses occur, the baseband layershould retransmit the data. Furthermore, to make efficient use of thepiconet channel, slots should be allocated on demand, instead of beingreserved for the usage duration. A data path between a master-slave pairmeeting all of these requirements is called an asynchronous data link(ACL). SCO links have priority over data, so ACLs can claim only unusedslots. Only a single ACL can exist between a master and a slave.

The master is responsible for distributing available slots among allACLs. This scheme has two advantages:

-   -   the master can ensure that the slave transmissions do not        collide; and    -   the slots can be allocated to satisfy the quality of service        (QoS) requirement of each ACL. The master can grant more        bandwidth to a slave by polling it more frequently or by        changing the packet size.

The baseband specification does not mandate the use of any specificslot-allocation scheme. Chip vendors can choose any policy that fitstheir target applications. As with SCO packets, the payload size ofsingleslot ACL packets is limited to 30 bytes. After discounting spacefor the higher layer headers and the CRC, only 27 bytes are left totransport application data. When FEC is added, the available space goesdown to 17 bytes. To improve channel efficiency, the basebandspecification has defined multislot packets, which are three or fiveslots long and transmitted in consecutive slots. The transmitter staysfixed on a hop frequency during the length of packet transmission andskips over the missed hops after the transmission is complete. Thisreduces the effective channel-hopping rate, but increases the channelefficiency because of fewer hops. Although link speed is 1 Mbps,achievable aggregate throughput can range from 217.6 Kbps to 780.8 Kbps.The presence of an HV3 or HV2 SCO link significantly reduces theachievable through-put of an ACL.

L2CAP can be viewed as the data plane of the Bluetooth link layer (seeFIG. 18). Because the baseband packet size is too small for transportinghigher layer packets, a thin layer is needed for exporting a biggerpacket size to the higher layers. While a number of generic segmentationand reassembly protocols could be used or adapted for use over ACLs, theBluetooth SIG instead defined L2CAP, which is highly optimized to workin conjunction with the baseband layer. For example, L2CAP does notsupport integrity checks because the baseband packets are already CRCprotected. Likewise, it is assumed that the lower layer delivers packetsboth reliably and in sequence. These two assumptions significantlysimplify the design of segmentation and reassembly logic. The onlycaveat is that L2CAP will not work if used over any media other than theBluetooth baseband.

The multiplexing and demultiplexing of higher layer protocols issupported using channels, multiple instances of which can be createdbetween any two L2CAP endpoints. Each higher layer protocol or datastream is carried in a different channel. The L2CAP channels areconnection oriented in the sense that they require an explicit phase toestablish the channel, during which both ends choose a local name(channel identifier) and communicate it to the other end. Subsequently,each packet sent over the channel is tagged with the channel identifier,which-within the context of the receiver-uniquely identifies the sourceas well as the protocol being transported over the channel. The L2CAPspecification also defines a connectionless channel for supportingbroadcast and multicast group communication, but this feature is not yetfully developed.

Both ends of a Bluetooth link must support compatible sets of protocolsand applications to successfully exchange data. In some cases it mayalso be necessary to configure protocol and stack parameter settingsbefore applications can be started. Such configuration settings cannotbe chosen statically, since some parameters may require adjustment tomatch the features and services supported by the peer Bluetooth device.

Bluetooth's SDP provides a standard means for a Bluetooth device toquery and discover services supported by a peer Bluetooth device. SDP isa client-server protocol. The server maintains a list junction with thebaseband layer. For example, of service records, which describe thecharacteristics of services hosted at the server. By issuing SDPqueries, a client can browse all available service records maintained atthe server or retrieve specific attribute values from a service record.

In addition to defining query and response protocol formats, the SDPspecification also defines a standard method for describing serviceattributes. Service attributes are represented using an <identifier,value> pair. The 1.1 Bluetooth specification defines some of thecommonly used services, but developers have the freedom to define newsubclasses of the standard services or to create new services on theirown.

Since new service definitions do not require any coordination with theBluetooth SIG numbering authority, it is necessary to ensure that twoindependently created service definitions do not conflict. Collisionsare avoided by associating each service definition with a universallyunique identifier (QUID) which is generated once at the time a serviceis defined. UUIDs of the services defined by the Bluetooth SIG areincluded in the assigned numbers document.

If the client already knows the QUID of the service it is looking for,it can query the SDP server for specific service attributes.Alternatively, the client can browse the list of available services andselect from the list. These are the only two search options supported inSDP. Although other IP-based service discovery protocols, such as SLPand Jini, provide richer service description schema and more powerfulsearch capabilities, the Bluetooth SDP has two advantages:

-   -   The majority of version-1.1-compliant Bluetooth devices will be        non-IP devices. Requiring them to support IP only for the sake        of supporting SLP would be costly.    -   SDP is optimized to run over L2CAP. Its limited search        capabilities and non-text-based attribute-id and attribute-value        descriptions lend an efficient and small footprint        implementation for small devices.

SDP provides a mechanism only for retrieving service information fromother devices. Methods of invoking those services are outside the scopeof SDP. Before a device can establish the L2CAP channel, the linkmanager must carry out a number of baseband-specific actions, such aspiconet creation, master-slave role assignments, and link configuration.These functions belong to the control plane of the Bluetooth link layerand require the link manager to exchange LMP messages over the air link.Depending on the operating environment, the link manager must adjust anumber of piconet and link-specific parameters. For example, thepeer-link controller can be instructed to switch to a low-power mode,adjust its power level, increase the packet size, and change therequested QoS on an ACL.

Security can also be configured using LMP messages. Before a data orvoice exchange can begin, Bluetooth devices should be able toauthenticate each other. Likewise, transmission over the air link mustbe encrypted to provide protection from eavesdroppers. Both objectivesare easy to achieve when a security association already exists between apair of devices. The link manager can use the shared secret key toverify the peer device's authenticity as well as to negotiate a link keyfor encryption. A typical session between two Bluetooth devices beginswith the formation of a piconet, followed by the exchange of LMPmessages first to authenticate and then to negotiate new encryption keyswith the peer device. Only upon successful completion of the LMPhandshake can further data exchange or voice communication take place.

The level of security built into the version 1.1 specifications issatisfactory so long as the initial security associations are computedin a secure fashion. The baseband and LMP specifications also define amethod, called pairing, for creating a new security association betweentwo devices when they pair for the first time. The method uses anout-of-band channel for creating a security association, which is thenused as a seed to compute a cryptographically secure shared secret key.By out-of-band channel a user typing a randomly chosen PIN number onboth devices is meant. The security of a pairing phase is limited by auser's ability to choose good PIN numbers. In scenarios when one devicein the pair does not have a keypad, security can be further compromisedif the chosen PIN is transmitted to the other device in clear text.

The ultimate objective of the Bluetooth specifications is to allowmultivendor applications to interoperate. Different applications may runon different devices, and each device may use a protocol stack from onevendor and a Bluetooth chip from another. Yet interoperability amongapplications is achieved when different implementations comply with thesame core and profiles specifications. At the lowest layer, Bluetoothchips from different vendors interoperate over the air link because allBluetooth chips implement the baseband and LMP specifications. Bluetoothstacks, which can be implemented as either firmware or software, includethe L2CAP, SDP, and RFCOMM layers. It is relatively easy to port aBluetooth stack from one platform to another because the lowest layer ofa Bluetooth stack interfaces with a Bluetooth chip via a standard HClinterface which is also a part of the 1.1 specifications.

Porting a Bluetooth application from one stack to another, however, ismore difficult. The application can use any standard API to access 1P,PPP OBEX, or RFCOMM layers of the Bluetooth stack, but there is nostandard API to access the control functions provided by the Bluetoothstack. For example, if an application were to initiate a Bluetoothinquiry to discover other devices in its neighborhood, it must use anAPI specific to the stack vendor to access those functions. Additionaldetails regarding the above may be found in Ron Schneiderman,Bluettoth's Slow Dawn, IEEE Spectrum (November 2000), incorporatedherein by reference and all references cited there incorporated hereinby reference.

FIG. 19 is an illustration of a Bluetooth transmitter that upconvertsthe baseband information to the frequency-modulated carrier. Frequencyhopping and bursting are performed at this level. Conversely, theBluetooth receiver downconverts and demodulates the RF signal asillustrated in FIG. 19. The Bluetooth channels are each 1 MHz wide.Frequency hopping occurs over 79 channels.

Although originally thought of simply as a replacement for the unseemlynest of wires that connects PCs to keyboards and printers, Bluetoothquickly evolved into a system that will allow people to detect andcommunicate with each other through a variety of mainly portable deviceswithout their users' intervention. Bluetooth-enabled devices will beable to “talk” to each other as they come into range, which is about 10meters, although this figure can be extended to more than 100 meters byincreasing the transmit power from a nominal 1 mW to as much as 100 mW.

With Bluetooth technology, you can send e-mail from the computer on yourlap to the cellular phone in your briefcase. Your Bluetooth-linked cellphone or similarly equipped PDA can automatically synchronize with yourdesktop PC whenever you pass it within Bluetooth range. Or, you can havehands-free communications between a Bluetooth-enabled headset and a cellphone, or you can download images from a digital camera to a PC or cellphone.

Critical mass is critical to Bluetooth's success. Bluetooth technologyis expected to make its debut in cell phones and PDAs, but then willmove quickly into notebook and laptop computers, printers, scanners,digital cameras, household appliances, security/remote access, games,toys, and more. Ericsson, which started it all with the development ofthe Bluetooth concept, has already announced several Bluetooth products,including a headset, a PC Card for laptops and PDAs, and two Bluetoothcell phones. A Bluetooth keyboard and mouse are on the drawing board.

Nokia and Fujifilm are working on a mobile imaging technology theybelieve would enable Nokia to add a Bluetooth chip to itsclamshell-shaped 9110 Communicator so that it could receive images takenon a Bluetooth-equipped Fujifilm digital camera. After the addition of afew lines of text, the received photographs can be sent to another NokiaCommunicator, or to the Fujifilm Web service, where it can be viewed,printed, or burned into a CD-ROM. Finnish telecom operator Sonera haseven demonstrated a Bluetooth-enabled vending machine-consumers buyproducts out of the machine by simply signaling an account code from aBluetooth cell phone or PDA. The code would debit the user's accountbased on the code. Eventually, cell phones and PDAs are expected to beable to display personal bar codes, which can be read by a vendingmachine scanner.

The Gartner Group calls it the Supranet—the wireless connection of dataand transactions between the hard-wire Internet, wireless devices suchas cell phones and PDAs, and the “papernet,” meaning the physical worldof business cards and legal documents. Emerging seamless connectionswill deliver a whole host of new technologies, according to Gartner,with one of the first integral technologies to be tied to the Supranetbeing Bluetooth. By 2004, according to Gartner, 70 percent of new cellphones and 40 percent of the new PDAs will use wireless technology fordirect access to Web content and enterprise networks. Gartner believesthat Bluetooth is set to become a defining force in portable electronicproducts.

In what the Bluetooth community calls “unconscious” or “hidden”computing, Bluetooth-enabled products will automatically seek each otherout and configure themselves into networks-most often, with just twonodes. Though small, such networks can be quite useful. They can forwarde-mail received on a cellular phone in a person's pocket to the notebookor laptop computer in his or her briefcase; they can download data froma digital camera to a PC or cell phone; or they can alert their ownersas they pass a Bluetooth-enabled vending machine. Bluetooth can serve asa means for connecting laptop computers or other devices to the publicInternet in airport lounges and conference centers through permanentaccess points. It can also enable its user to exchange business cardswith everyone passed on the street through a Bluetooth-enabled Palm—butnot unless it has been given permission to identify the user to anyoneor anything, which, according to a Merrill Lynch report on Bluetooth,“opens up whole new blind dating opportunities.”

More than 2000 organizations have joined the Bluetooth Special InterestGroup (SIG) and most of them are currently developing Bluetooth-enabledproducts under a specification developed by the group. The IEEE 802.15Personal Area Network (PAN) Working Group, formed early last year, hasmade Bluetooth the foundation for a range of consumer network products,most of them portable. The PAN Working Group is currently developing a1-Mb/s standard based on the work of the Bluetooth SIG, and hopes todefine a “consumer-priced,” 20-Mb/s or faster wireless personal areanetwork that can be widely deployed for shortrange information transfer.

The principal issue with Bluetooth is interoperability. Few of theseproducts have met the Special Interest Group's requirements forinteroperability or been tested under actual use conditions. One reasonis that the qualification program was launched before conformance-testsystems had been validated and were available. Not surprisingly,Bluetooth components are coming out later than expected andmanufacturing capacity is limited. Another obstacle: Bluetooth productsmust be tested at a qualified test facility to ensure compliance withthe Bluetooth specification. But no qualification test facilities arecurrently listed on the official Bluetooth Web site, as required by theBluetooth consortium. True, some test equipment has been delivered withBluetooth test features-Teradyne's MicroWAVE6000 instrumentation suite,for example. But no “official” or validated test hardware was availableto manufacturers as of early October. Since interoperability is thebe-all and end-all of Bluetooth, there is no point in coming out with aproduct until the spec is finalized or until some other means is inplace for verifying that the item has a very good chance of working withother Bluetooth products when they become available.

Few of those involved are more frustrated than the Special InterestGroup's Promoter Group. It was formed late last year by 3Com, LucentTechnologies, Microsoft, and Motorola, and joined by SIG's originalfounders-Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toshiba. Its charter is tolead the Special Interest Group's development of Bluetooth technologyand promote interoperability among members' products. Investments ofresources have been huge-Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., for example,reportedly has at least 60 people working on Bluetooth issues at leastsome of the time. To help speed Bluetooth products to market, theInterest Group has created what amounts to an interim qualificationprogram with somewhat relaxed interoperability testing.

Tests of Bluetooth products and devices are now being done againstdesignated protocol test products called Blue Units. These are based ondevelopment kits designed by the Cadence Symbionics Group, Cambridge, UK(part of Cadence Design Systems, San Jose, Calif.) and available throughSymbionics and Sweden's Ericsson Microelectronics AB, AU System, andSigma ComTec. The development kits comprise baseband and radio boards,interfaces (universal serial bus ports, phone jacks, and RS-232-Cports), host software, accessories, and documentation. They were createdto enable first-time Bluetooth design engineers to accelerate thedevelopment of prototype products and devices.

But Blue Units do not carry the weight of full compliance with theBluetooth spec; they are simply test beds to be used to establishconfidence in key Bluetooth protocols. While they can test a number ofkey functions, their use is limited to partial testing of the basebandand link manager software. Blue Units cannot, for example, be used totest the logical link control and adaptation protocol, which adaptsupper-layer protocols over the baseband; nor can it test the servicediscovery protocol, which Bluetooth units use to learn about thecapabilities of other Bluetooth units.

The tests a product manufacturer has to pass to qualify a product for aBluetooth trademark are divided into four areas:

-   -   Radio frequency qualification testing.    -   Protocol conformance testing.    -   Profile conformance testing.    -   Profile interoperability testing.

Protocols describe how Bluetooth-enabled devices perform such basictasks as service discovery, telephony signaling, and link management.Profiles specify which basic protocols and procedures are required forspecific categories of Bluetooth devices and applications, like cordlesstelephones, headsets and faxing. Profiles are the primary means forachieving interoperability among Bluetooth-enabled devices.

Currently available profiles cover cordless telephony, intercoms, serialports, headsets, fax machines, local-area network access, file transfer,and dial-up networking. One group, chaired by Philips Semiconductor,Sunnyvale, Calif., expects to complete a written specification on threeaudio and three video applications by mid-2001. More than simplyreplacing cables for wireless speakers using Bluetooth technology, thegroup aspires to create applications that will make audio/videoequipment interoperable with assorted consumer electronic products, asin moving data between a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone and a PC, orremotely changing channels and controlling the volume on televisionsets. Bluetooth accessories, such as PC Cards and USB dongles (securitydevices), are treated differently: they may be submitted for completequalification testing only when they are installed in a host product.

Other working groups within the Special Interest Group are writingprofiles for printing, imaging, location positioning, human interfacedevices, and personal area networks. Medical, automotive, and some otherBluetooth applications will require additional product certification.Naturally, qualification requirements are expected to evolve as testequipment and procedures become available. In the meantime, designersmust pass a series of tests based on four test reference categoriesestablished by the Bluetooth consortium. The categories range frommerely informative, through self-testing, to full testing by a certifiedtest facility using a validated reference test system. Since novalidated test systems are yet available, the Special Interest Group isfor the time being waiving the most rigorous category for manufacturerswho pass the less strict of the categories and who successfully testtheir products against a Blue Unit.

Even that may not do the trick, though. The Category A [most rigorous]test gives a certain level of confidence that you will be interoperablewith other Bluetooth devices,” said Cedric Paillard, product marketingmanager of Conexant Systems Inc. “It doesn't guarantee that you will beinteroperable in the real world.” Conexant acquired Ontario-basedPhilsar Semiconductor earlier this year to help speed its entry into theBluetooth chip market. At some point, when the necessary tools are inplace, Bluetooth products will show that they are interoperable withwhat is called a “Golden Unit” —a SIG-designated unit that has passedall the required qualification and conformance tests.

Because Bluetooth is still in its early development stages, testmethodologies differ from those typical of more highly developedtechnologies. A Bluetooth application note suggests that Bluetooth testprocedures may require manual intervention or custom software control,as opposed to mature technologies in which easy-to-use, one-buttonmeasurements are available. Part of the problem is that it has taken along time for test houses to develop equipment with Bluetooth features,so that many Bluetooth designers have been forced to create their owntest sequences and methods based on Bluetooth specifications.

A Bluetooth Design-Guide is essentially an application layer that may beadded to Agilent's Advanced Design System. It contains system testbenches and reference designs, such as an optimal low-intermediatefrequency (IF) receiver, for part of the RF portion of the Bluetoothphysical layer. The Tektronix CMU200 universal radio communicationstester is a multi-standard test set for mobile phones with Bluetoothtest features. Teradyne has shipped its MicroWAVE6000 instrumentationsuite for testing Bluetooth radios and ICs to Ericsson, Oki, andCambridge Silicon Radio, and has said it has several other customerslined up.

Qualification grants companies the worldwide right to incorporateBluetooth wireless technology in their products, and to use theBluetooth trademark; but even the trademark does not guarantee that aproduct complies fully with Bluetooth specifications. Passing thequalification program demonstrates a certain measure of compliance andinteroperability, but as the Bluetooth SIG notes in its ownliterature-because products are not tested for every aspect of theBluetooth specification, qualification does not guarantee compliance. Inthe final analysis, each manufacturer is responsible for ensuring thatits products will intemperate with products from other Bluetoothmanufacturers.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an access Controland Session Management in the HTTP Environment is provided where arole-based access-control model is stored as LDAP objects in a securityarchitecture. As the only ubiquitous public data network, the Internetoffers business partners a communications channel that previouslyexisted only in unique situations with private, special-purposenetworks. Well-publicized security risks, however, have limited thedeployment of business-to-business extranets, which typically use theInternet's public data network infrastructure. These risks extend behindfirewalls to intranets, where any user gaining entry to a facility isoften implicitly authenticated to access unprotected services by simplyplugging a portable computer into an unused network port.

Role-based access controls (RBACs) and Web session management to protectagainst network security breaches in the HTTP environment is providede.The RBAC and session management services augment network-level security,such as firewalls, inherent in the deployment of any Web-based systemwith untrusted interfaces. The RBACs are implemented through theInternet Engineering Task Force's Lightweight Directory Access Protocol(for IETF documents relevant to LDAP and other Internet protocols.Session management is implemented through cryptographically secured,cookie-based ticket mechanisms.

Role-based access controls are not part of the typical Web serversoftware set. The HTTP RFCs specify a “401:WWW-Authenticate” serverresponse-essentially a logon challenge—for authentication and accesscontrol. The notion of a security realm applies: a typical securityrealm comprises a tree or subtree of URLs for a given server. Becauseeach realm must map to unique URL prefixes, security realms are mutuallyexclusive. When a Web client requests a URL from a server, the serverchecks the URL against its list of realms for a prefix match. For eachrealm, there is a corresponding access control list (ACL) thatspecifies-either explicitly or through a set of rules-which users areallowed access to URLs in the realm, and which users are denied.

Secure realms are useful for gross access control to a Web site. Buteach realm requires authentication for access, so the user task ofsupplying a name and password quickly becomes burdensome. The need todifferentiate user roles magnifies the problem: few businesses want tomaintain distinct and largely redundant Web sites and content for eachuser role in their authorization base. An additional, more subtleproblem arises with the need to dynamically generate content and controlthe visible link set (that is, those URLs that we know in advance a useris authorized to access, as in a search result). Given the issues ofuser complexity and Web site maintainability, secure realms are notfeasible in the implementation of an RBAC security model, the approachdescribed in this article shows how to address these issues by usingnetwork authentication services-such as LDAP, Sun Microsystems NIS, andMicrosoft's NT domains—together with an RBAC model stored as LDAPobjects and secured session ticket.

The problems of entity authentication, resource-access authorization,and session management are not unique to the HTTP environment. In customclient-server systems, sessions are explicitly maintained by persistentnetwork connections and state information shared between client andserver applications, the request-response-disconnect nature of HTTPprecludes any shared, connection-oriented state between client and Webserver, inso-far as that state is based on the protocol itself.

RFC 2109 describes a state management mechanism more generally known asa session ticket. RFCs 2068 and 2616 specify HTTP's basic authenticationmechanism, which is simply a user-ID and password encoded in Base64 andincluded as part of the HTTP request headers. From a security viewpoint,Base64 is essentially cleartext. Unless transport layer security (TLS,RFC 2246) or secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption is used, this is nota secure method for authentication.

RFC 2595 recently proposed starting a TLS session to protect what wouldotherwise be cleartext password authentication for three Internetstandard protocols. Following this proposal, a server would augment itsadvertised capability set to include a “start TLS” capability. A clientwould issue this start command, re-determine the server's capabilities,and then perform the authentication steps of the protocol with thetransport layer encryption protecting the exchange. The message digestauthentication proposed in RFC 2617 is a type of challenge-responseauthentication protocol that does not transmit any cleartext passwords.

Role-based access control provides a rich model for managing informationand its accessors. Many other security models can be represented assubsets or simplifications of an RBAC model. A role-based access withouthierarchical control is implemented where session termination issystem-enforced instead of user-elected, and all users have a singlerole (both of these are constraints under RBAC₂). Furthermore, thenotion of sessions is limited in the HTTP environment because of thesingle request-response nature of the protocol.

RBAC, includes:

-   -   U, a set of users    -   R, a set of roles    -   P, a set of permissions    -   PA, a many-to-many permission-to-role assignment relation    -   UA, a many-to-many user-to-role assignment relation    -   S, a function mapping a session to a set of roles, possibly        dynamically

This was the approach used to implement LDAP-based RBAC. The permissionsare treated like uninterpreted symbols in the model definition. Thesymbol interpretation service is implemented either as anapplication-level service-access meditation function—which was the casewith the insurance company implementation—or as an HTTP server-requestintercepts filtering function-which was the case in subsequentimplementations. (it may also be possible to implement RBAC, (rolehierarchies) using the object class hierarchy that is part of the X.500schema employed by LDAP directory servers.)

FIG. 20 illustrates one embodiment of the logical architecture for thesecurity services. Other approaches are also possible. Authenticationverifies a claimant's identity. The architecture in FIG. 20 showsauthentication services as a configurable service element. In thefielded implementation, an LDAP bind operation with a simple passwordprovided the back-end authentication service with parameters obtainedfrom the user in an HTTP form submitted over TLS. FIG. 20 shows severalother common authentication services that may already exist in anenterprise and could also be used. For a generic HTTP client, theauthentication possibilities are limited to what can be accomplishedwith HTTP Basic Authentication or form submission. Form submission bythe HTTP client causes the HTTP server to act as a proxy for the clientin executing one of the authentication protocols. This implies that theclient trusts the HTTP server in this proxy authentication role.

Session management services are shown in FIG. 20, and detailed below.

Time service. The session management services related to sessionduration and time-out require agreement on the time. Some authenticationprotocols also use time-varying sources, such as challenge-responsetypes. The required precision of time measurement is usually on theorder of a few minutes for session idle time-out. The network timeprotocol (RFC 1305) and simple network time protocol (RFC 2030) provideclose synchronization of system clocks.

User profile service. This service provides user attributes,particularly security roles and distinguished names. Other informationthat may be useful in the applications or content-tailoring environmentmay he provided, such as given name, common name, applicationpreferences, and so on.

Ticket issuance service. This service h rants a session ticket to anauthenticated user. The session ticket stores information about the Website user in a tamper- and spoof-proof format and utilizes sessiontune-out in the normally stateless HTTP environment (for session ticketspecifications, see Bellovin²).

The session ticket based on HTTP cookies is the only standards-based,scalable method for maintaining state in the HTTP environment. Theticket can be represented either as a single cookie within which anumber of values have been catenated or as a collection of distinctcookies. In our fielded implementation, a set of related session ticketswas used. For implementation purposes, this collection is referred to asthe session ticket (in other words, it is a set of related cookies).

The session ticket comprises a payload, consisting of several distinctvariables and their values:

-   -   User₁₃ IP: the client IP address to which the session ticket was        issued. This is used in session ticket validation to detect        source spoofing. Note that firewalls should not be configured to        hide or rental) the requestor address for this to he of use.    -   User_ID: the username or distinguished name (DN) that was        correctly authenticated to the site.    -   Login_Expires: the session time-out and automatic logout        function that Web browsers do not inherently support.    -   Login_Expires_Absolute: the stated absolute expiration time of a        session, even if it has not expired due to idleness time-out.    -   Other attributes as required for the particular implementation.    -   Ticket_MAC: a digital signature or message authentication code        (MAC) computed against the catenation of the session ticket        values.

The server issues the session ticket after a successful authenticationprotocol execution, which in most cases transpires over an encrypted SSLconnection between the Web client and the Web server. Once the ticketarrives at the Web browser, it must he secured from tampering, as shownin FIG. 21. A digital signature or Message Authentication Code (MAC)across the session ticket makes tampering detectable. If, for example, auser attempts to maliciously modify his role, the message represented bythe session ticket will not be authentic.

The insurance company implementation used a hash-based MAC referred toas HMAC-SHA-1-160, as all 160 hits of the SHA-1 output are retained.Alternative implementations of the secured session ticket are possibleusing symmetric cookie encryption or public key methods for digitalsignature. This session ticket expiration time is determined by theearlier of the Login_Expires or Login_Expires-Absolute values in thesecure session ticket. These values are determined at the time thesession ticket is generated by adding the system configurationparameters of Session-Duration and Session-Duration-Absolute to thecurrent time, obtained from the time service.

A valid session ticket is refreshed as it is used: this involves theupdate of the Login_Expires and Ticket_MAC values. The values arevalidated by a server and returned to the user in response to an HTTPrequest, which prevents ticket expiration while a user is active. Userswould otherwise need to re-authenticate unnecessarily. FIG. 22illustrates the logic for implementing the ticket-issuance service andits interaction whit the authentication and user profile services.

Ticket validation service. After a ticket is issued, the HTTP servermust validate it as presented in the request headers. Three checks areperformed to validate a session ticket transmitted from a browser userto a server:

-   -   The IP host address from which the session ticket was        transmitted must match the User_IP value.    -   The Ticket_MAC value (as a cookie header) in the request from        the browser user must match the result of the same server-side        calculation performed on the presented session ticket using the        MAC key (excluding the Ticket_MAC value).    -   The time provided by the time service must he earlier than the        times specified in the ticket's Login_Expires and        Login_Expires_Absolute values.

If a session ticket is not valid, the user is asked to reauthenticateand thereby establish a valid session. When a user successfullyauthenticates, the session ticket transitions state to “Valid and NotExpired.” From this state, a number of possible transitions can be made:

-   -   A ticket refresh may retain the “Valid and Not Expired” state.        This is most common event.    -   If the ticket is deleted (for example, the representative cookie        tile is deleted, or the browser application execution terminated        and restarted), it arrives in a “No Ticket” state.    -   If the ticket is tampered with or the machine IP address does        not match the User_IP value, it arrives in an “Invalid        Ticket_MAC” state.    -   If the ticket is presented after it has expired, it arrives in        an “Expired” state.    -   A tampered and expired ticket arrives in the “Invalid and        Expired” state.

From any invalid state, a transition back to the same state based on afailed reauthentication is possible. If reauthentication is successful,the state transitions back to “Valid and Not Expired.”

The User_IP may have been established by a dynamic host configurationprotocol (DHCP) service (RFC 2131); this occurs if sessions time out orexpire in a much shorter time than a DHCP address lease does. Sessiontime-outs are usually in the range of 5 to 20 minutes, while DHCP leasestend to have durations of 24 to 72 hours (a few environments with veryshort leases provide exceptions to this). If a DHCP lease is lost andrenewed with a different IP address while a session is active, then theuser will need to re-authenticate. (In other words, the user will havebeen logged off by the address change; this would be true for anysocket-based services in use as well).

The use of proxy servers raises another issue related to User_IP. In thecase of many users and a single shared proxy, all users appear to havethe same IP address—that of the proxy. This limits the effectiveness ofUser_IP in binding a session ticket to a particular host. In the case ofmany users and an array of proxy servers with different IP addresses,the User_IP generally will not match the actual IP address of therotating proxies. In a case where you can control the proxy systems, onesolution is to activate proxy generation of the Client IP HTTP requestheader and use this value instead of the host IP address.

The keyed message authentication code stored as the Ticket_MAC valuerequires the provision of some key management services. Key managementservices required for this approach are:

-   -   secure distribution of the MAC key to all servers requiring it,        and    -   MAC key renewal or regeneration.

MAC key updates cause all currently valid session tickets to becomeinvalid. This forces users to reauthenticate, which can be irksome ifkey updates are frequent. In practice, a nightly key update schedule isoften adequate for typical business-oriented—as opposed to military ordiplomatic—security policies. In a network of servers requiring MAC keyknowledge and renewal, more elaborate key distribution methods areneeded to protect the key during transmission.

The Authorization Service mediates user access to resources; its primaryclients are HTTP servers and other network-based, LDAP-awareapplications. When a user requests resources, the HTTP server asks theauthorization service if the user is authorized for them. The responseis either true or false, and the HITP server or application processesthe request accordingly. In this way, the HTTP server acts like anapplication access firewall, where filtering rules are based on an RBACmodel accessed over LDAP.

LDAP is defined in several IETF documents. RFC 1487 (July 1993) was theearliest definition of a lightweight access protocol for X.500directories. RFC 1777, released in March 1995, is known as LDAPv2 andremains the current draft standard. RFCs 2251 through 2256 are proposedstandards and collectively constitute what is known as LDAPv3.

The LDAP RFCs describe a network protocol for communication betweendirectory user agents (DUAs) and directory server agents (DSAs),supported by an underlying set of data structures referred to as adirectory. The directory data structures are in accordance with theCCITT X.500 standards⁵ and provide a simple, obbject-orientedorganization. The objects are not complex and do not have any executablecode attached to them; they often look like simple database rows withthe exception that attributes or columns may be designated as requiredor allowed. Objects may be designated distinct classes, the attributesof which may be inherited by any object therein.

Using a compliant LDAP DSA and domains example. (a Netscape DirectoryServer in the implementation described here), the RBAC₀ model definedpreviously can be implemented by making two schema extensions. First,the default user object is subclassed to a new object class with atleast one additional required attribute: securityRole. At this point, ifthe client has outer attribution requirements, those attributes are alsodefiners for the new default user object.

Second, the object class securityRoleobject is defined. There is oneinstance of securityRoleobject for each defined role in the system. Thiscollection of objects defines the relation PA, as described for RBAC₀ (amany-to-many permission-to-role assignment relation). In practice, PAmay be represented as a Boolean matrix of dimensions corresponding tothe number of roles (rows) and permissions (columns) in the system. EachsecurityRoleObject then corresponds to a row of the permission matrix.

Next, users are created in the LDAP directory using the new objectclass. This object class inherits all the usual attributes-e-mailaddress, fax number, street address, first name, last name, and soon-plus any additional new attributes the client requires. A typicaldistinguished name (DN) for a user would have the form uid-userid,o=organization, c=countryName.

After all of the information access functions are identified, user rolesare defined. An instance of the object class securityRoleobject with anidentifier that included the role name and true or false values for eachattribute that matched an information-access function was created in theinsurance company implementation.

Because HTTP cookies contain a return domain that may include awild-card type of specification, it is possible to use this sessionticket scheme for a single Web sign-oft (SWSO) capability. SWSO allows auser to authenticate once to the ticket-issuing service and obtain asession ticket that establishes the user's session and authenticationthroughout an entire DNS subdomain of hosts. An HTTP cookie contains aname, a value, a path, a domain, an expiration, and a secure-onlyattribute. By designating the domain to be, for example, *.computer.org,the cookie will be returned to any server in the subdomain ofcomputer.org, such as www.computer.org, dlib.computer.org,ftp.computer.org, and so on. A single cession ticker thereby providesthe user's authentication and session management across a number ofhosts related by domain name.

The example outlined below describes how a user sees the interactionwith Web-based systems employing this approach to security. The initiallogin form includes possibilities for authentication service selectionand domains for SWSO; in practice, this login form would be simpler.

The following steps describe this hypothetical session, illustrating theuser's view of the system's security aspects:

-   -   The user launches a Web browser and enters a URL, such as        http://dlib.computer.org.    -   Any cookies representing session tickets from previous sessions        have expired, so no cookies are presented in the request        headers. (Expired cookies may be present in the request, but the        user does not see this.)    -   The Web server examines the request headers looking; for a        name-value pair, which serves as the session ticket. If the        session ticket is invalid or expired, or if none is found, the        user is redirected to an authentication HTML form, delivered        over a secured SSL HTTP connection from the ticket-issuing        server. This form may he delivered by the same Web server or by        a different Web server dedicated to this purpose.    -   The user fills in the authentication form, entering a user-ID        and password, domain selections, and authentication method        selection, and submits the form to the ticket-issuing server.    -   The ticketing server operates as a proxy for execution of file        selected authentication protocol with an authentication server.    -   The ticketing server prepares a ticket for the user's session.        The user ID, DN, session expiration time, absolute expiration,        and possibly a client IP address form the ticket payload. A        keyed MAC value is computed against the payload and appended to        it; the payload and its MAC are then delivered in the HTTP        response headers as cookies. The return domain of tile cookies        corresponds to the domain selections made earlier on the form        (*.computer.org in this case). The user is now authenticated and        has an active Welt session with all Weft servers in the        *.computer. org domain.    -   The user is presented with the initial navigation screen of the        Computer Society's Digital Library.    -   Subsequent requests against any server in the        *.dlib.computer.org domain will have tile session ticket cookie        values in the HTTP request headers. All Web servers will extract        that header and validate it using the shared MAC key. The user        does not need to re-authenticate until the session expires.    -   The session expires after some time, say 30 minutes. A valid MAC        but expired ticket results in a re-authentication as described        above. Now re-authenticated, the user continues using the        Digital Library.    -   Finally, the user is done with the session, and instead of        telling it time out, she logs out explicitly. The logout        establishes a session ticket with the expiration time so that        any re-use of the computer's currently running browser will        require re-authentication.

A comprehensive approach to security must consider numerous potentialattacks on network services. Relevant issues include security policy,information labeling, user administration, physical security, operationsystem confirmation and hardening, network topologies for servicelocations, firewall configuration and filtering rules, intrusiondetection, penetration testing, and more. The following analysis ofthreats is restricted to those specific to the security servicesidentified in tile service architecture presented here.

Both SHA and MD5 produce a fixed number of hits from an arbitrary sizeinput: SHA produces 160 bits and MD5 produces 128 hits. The MAC can bedefeated only by a forgery. To succeed, an attacker must find a usefulhash collision—a computationally daunting task. To guard against thisattack, the MAC key is regenerated daily, thus limiting the timeavailable for calculating a useful hash collision to 24 hours. Thisinterval may be reduced as computer power available to attackersincreases.

The primary defenses against session ticket theft attacks arc theLogin_Expires and User_IP elements. An attacker has only until theLogin_Expires time to steal the session ticket and move it to anothermachine: in practice, this window of opportunity is usually between 5and 20 minutes. (If the attacker were in possession of the victim'spassword, this session ticket theft attack would he unnecessary.)

The attacker's machine must also engage in an IP address spoof so thatit appears to have the same network IP address as the victim's machine.Since both machines are active at the same time, this routing issueposes an additional problem for the attacker. A successful sessionticket theft requires that an attacker read a user's disk-based cookietile, change the victim's IP address or take the victim's machine offthe network, assume the victim's IP address oil a subnet such that theIP routing of the stolen address will operate correctly, and finally,access the Web-based resources while impersonating the victim. This is arelatively complicated attack, which would generally require physicalproximity to the victim's network and execution within a short timespan.

This attack is very unlikely to succeed when the cookies arememory-resident, that is, if they are never written to the cookie fileby the browser software. This memory-only cookie treatment by browsersis not guaranteed, however. If SSL is used only access to theticket-issuance service and the session tickets are subsequentlytransmitted in cleartext over the network, the tickets are vulnerable torecovery by an eavesdropper. When the HTTP traffic is SSL-encrypted,successful eavesdropping to steal a session ticket is unlikely.

If an attacker tries a different approach, such as extending theLogin_Expires attribute or changing the User IP of the session ticket,this will be detected in a Ticket_MAC computation mismatch. (Theattacker does not have access to the MAC key secret used in thesignature-generation algorithm, as it is protected by a firewall andoperating system security measures.) A Ticket_MAC mismatch causes theserver to immediately request re-authentication with the correct user IDand password, and generates an auditable event. Similarly, if anauthenticated user seeks to modify some signed attribute, this will alsobe detected by a Ticket_MAC mismatch.

The function that generates the session ticket is another point ofattack. Direct execution of this function would allow all attacker torevive an expired session on a machine that an authenticated user hasleft unattended. This function is protected by operating system methods,application server methods, and Web server access controls. Nounauthenticated or direct execution or viewing of the session ticketgenerator is permitted.

LDAP-based authentication and authorization services are also vulnerableto attack. This could involve repeated attempts to guess a user-ID andpassword for an LDAP bind with simple password operation. Discovery of auser's password would allow an attacker to impersonate an authorizeduser. An attacker might also discover a system administration account,and thereby be able to change security role definitions. Further, a usermay seek to modify his security role attribute to gain greater access toresources.

Additional details regarding the above may be found in Kurt Gutzmann,Access Control and Session Management in the HTTP Environment, IEEEInternet Computer (January–February 2001), incorporated herein byreference and all references cited there incorporated herein byreference.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of the invention thatincorporates one or more of the architectures or communications methodsdescribed above. In FIG. 23, the process begins as all tickets arechecked in, for example, as the patrons enter the reserved seating area,such as a stadium or theater, through, for example, bar code readers,scanners, infrared readers, and/or manually or other method where thepatron is checked in, either at the gate, seat or other location. Forexample, patrons can optionally check in a predetermined time before theevent through a wireless device, Internet connection, manual or voicerecognition telephone, or other manner. The important point is toprovide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in, and if thepatron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, to allow thatseat to be provided to another willing patron in accordance with aprocess to be described below. The patron may check in either apredetermined time before or after the event begins. Currently, such aprocess is impossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reservedseating events have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to thebeginning of the event. The present invention represents a revolutionaryprocess to enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionallyprovide additional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally otherpatrons with the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, orother predetermined process.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. Optionally, a bidding process may beinitiated that allows various patrons to bid against one another. Anystandard bidding process may optionally be used. The patron, of coursehas the option to decline, and if so, the process continues and returnsto the re-allocation process to attempt to locate another possiblepatron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. If a predetermined period oftime has not expired, then the re-allocation process may be run again tooptionally continuously re-allocate seats. The patron may optionallystore the up-graded ticket on a wireless device for proof of entrance tothe better seating area. Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section,includes a separate reader device to receive optionally the originalticket that is now re-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket thatmay optionally be received by the patron via the wireless device and/ormanually via a worker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of the invention. In FIG.24, the process begins as all tickets are checked in, for example, asthe patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. For example, patrons canoptionally check in a predetermined time before the event through awireless device, Internet connection, manual or voice recognitiontelephone, or other manner. The important point is to provide a standardmanner for allowing patrons to check in, and if the patron fails tocheck in using a predetermined procedure, to allow that seat to beprovided to another willing patron in accordance with a process to bedescribed below. Currently, such a process is impossible and unthinkablein view of the difficulty reserved seating events have in simply gettingthe patrons seated prior to the beginning of the event. The presentinvention represents a revolutionary process to enhance event enjoyment,earn patron loyalty and optionally provide additional revenues to thetheater/stadium or optionally other patrons with the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, orother predetermined process.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. In addition, the original ticket holder is optionally reimbursedwith award points, a percentage of the revenue, a flat fee, anadditional event ticket that might also be upgradable, and/or any othermeans for rewarding the original ticket holder. The patron's seat maythen optionally be made available as an empty seat to the re-allocationprocess. If a predetermined period of time has not expired, then there-allocation process may be run again to optionally continuouslyre-allocate seats. The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticketon a wireless device for proof of entrance to the better seating area.Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section, includes a separatereader device to receive optionally the original ticket that is nowre-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket that may optionally bereceived by the patron via the wireless device and/or manually via aworker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart of a third embodiment of the invention. In FIG.25, the process begins as all tickets are checked in, for example, asthe patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. For example, patrons canoptionally check in a predetermined time before the event through awireless device, Internet connection, manual or voice recognitiontelephone, or other manner. The important point is to provide a standardmanner for allowing patrons to check in, and if the patron fails tocheck in using a predetermined procedure, to allow that seat to beprovided to another willing patron in accordance with a process to bedescribed below. Currently, such a process is impossible and unthinkablein view of the difficulty reserved seating events have in simply gettingthe patrons seated prior to the beginning of the event. The presentinvention represents a revolutionary process to enhance event enjoyment,earn patron loyalty and optionally provide additional revenues to thetheater/stadium or optionally other patrons with the desirable ticket.

The seat re-allocation process is used to re-assign seat for patronsthat are willing or interested in different or better seats. Suchre-allocation processes or algorithms may include a random process, aprocess where priority patrons are given priority for re-assignment ofseat, a process where patrons are willing to pay additional for there-assignment to either the theater or the individual patron whose seatis being provided to another patron, frequent event patrons, seasonticket patrons, or other predetermined process. Simultaneously orsubsequently, the check in procedure continues for a predeterminedperiod of time until a predetermined time period has expired, forexample, 5 minutes before the event begins, 10 minutes after the eventbegins, after a predetermined event, such as the second act of a play,and the like. Once the predetermined time period or event has beencompleted, the check in procedure may be considered completed to beginthe seat re-allocation process.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. If a predetermined period oftime has not expired, then the re-allocation process may be run again tooptionally continuously re-allocate seats. The patron may optionallystore the up-graded ticket on a wireless device for proof of entrance tothe better seating area. Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section,includes a separate reader device to receive optionally the originalticket that is now re-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket thatmay optionally be received by the patron via the wireless device and/ormanually via a worker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart of a fourth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.26, the process begins as all tickets are checked in, for example, asthe patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. For example, patrons canoptionally check in a predetermined time before the event through awireless device, Internet connection, manual or voice recognitiontelephone, or other manner. The important point is to provide a standardmanner for allowing patrons to check in, and if the patron fails tocheck in using a predetermined procedure, to allow that seat to beprovided to another willing patron in accordance with a process to bedescribed below. Currently, such a process is impossible and unthinkablein view of the difficulty reserved seating events have in simply gettingthe patrons seated prior to the beginning of the event. The presentinvention represents a revolutionary process to enhance event enjoyment,earn patron loyalty and optionally provide additional revenues to thetheater/stadium or optionally other patrons with the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, orother predetermined process.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

If no confirmation is received from the patron for a predeterminedperiod of time, the re-allocation process continues to wait until thepredetermined period of time has expired. Once the predetermined periodof time has expired and there is no response received from the patronprovided with the option of changing their seat, the patron is clearedor removed from the eligible list, and the seat is considered orassigned empty status for the re-allocation algorithm to be againimplemented.

If the patron accepts and a confirmation is received, payment of moneyor other means may be effectuated on the spot via the wireless device,credit card, debit card, points, and the like, and the patron may nowmove to the other seat. The patron's seat may then optionally be madeavailable as an empty seat to the re-allocation process. If apredetermined period of time has not expired, then the re-allocationprocess may be run again to optionally continuously re-allocate seats.The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticket on a wirelessdevice for proof of entrance to the better seating area. Optionally, theseat and/or row and/or section, includes a separate reader device toreceive optionally the original ticket that is now re-allocated to abetter seat, or a new ticket that may optionally be received by thepatron via the wireless device and/or manually via a worker in thetheater or stadium.

Of course, to re-allocation algorithm does not have to be run orimplemented one patron at a time, but may be run to re-allocate orre-assign a plurality of patrons. If one patron or higher prioritypatron does not accept, then the next already generated patron may bequeried to determine whether the next patron desires the seatre-allocation. Further, the system optionally downloads instructions onhow to get to the new location, and can provide step-by-stepinstructions using an optional standard global positioning system (GPS)incorporated in, or as a separate accessory to, the wireless device.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart of a fifth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.27, the process begins as all tickets are checked in, for example, asthe patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. For example, patrons canoptionally check in a predetermined time before the event through awireless device, Internet connection, manual or voice recognitiontelephone, or other manner. The important point is to provide a standardmanner for allowing patrons to check in, and if the patron fails tocheck in using a predetermined procedure, to allow that seat to beprovided to another willing patron in accordance with a process to bedescribed below. Currently, such a process is impossible and unthinkablein view of the difficulty reserved seating events have in simply gettingthe patrons seated prior to the beginning of the event. The presentinvention represents a revolutionary process to enhance event enjoyment,earn patron loyalty and optionally provide additional revenues to thetheater/stadium or optionally other patrons with the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, orother predetermined process.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. The process then optionallydetermines whether there have been additional vacancies, for example,just prior to the event, during the event or as a result ofpredetermined processes, and empties and/or makes available theseadditional seats for the event. For example, if standard smart card,standard scanner, standard bluetooth, wireless, or other technology isused in the present invention, additional seats may be made available aspatrons leave the event early, for example if diverted for an urgentbusiness meeting, and the like. These additional seats may provideadditional opportunities for patron satisfaction, revenue (theater orpatrons), advertising, advertising sponsorship for banner advertising onthe wireless device and/or in the theater, and the like. Thus, scannersposted at strategic locations, for example, at the exit of the theateror stadium will confirm that the patron is leaving, and optionallyprompt the patron to confirm that they do not plan on returning. Thisembodiment may optionally be used in other embodiments of the presentinvention, and vice versa.

If a predetermined period of time has not expired, then there-allocation process may be run again to optionally continuouslyre-allocate seats while advantageously including the additional seats.The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticket on a wirelessdevice for proof of entrance to the better seating area. Optionally, theseat and/or row and/or section, includes a separate reader device toreceive optionally the original ticket that is now re-allocated to abetter seat, or a new ticket that may optionally be received by thepatron via the wireless device and/or manually via a worker in thetheater or stadium.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of the invention. In FIG.28, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. The patron may check in either apredetermined time before or after the event begins. Currently, such aprocess is impossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reservedseating events have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to thebeginning of the event. The present invention represents a revolutionaryprocess to enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionallyprovide additional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally otherpatrons with the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, astandard bidding process, or other predetermined process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. Optionally, a bidding process may beinitiated that allows various patrons to bid against one another. Anystandard bidding process may optionally be used. The patron, of coursehas the option to decline, and if so, the process continues and returnsto the re-allocation process to attempt to locate another possiblepatron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. If a predetermined period oftime has not expired, then the re-allocation process may be run again tooptionally continuously re-allocate seats. The patron may optionallystore the up-graded ticket on a wireless device for proof of entrance tothe better seating area. Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section,includes a separate reader device to receive optionally the originalticket that is now re-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket thatmay optionally be received by the patron via the wireless device and/ormanually via a worker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of the invention. In FIG.29, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. Currently, such a process isimpossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reserved seatingevents have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to the beginningof the event. The present invention represents a revolutionary processto enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionally provideadditional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally other patronswith the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, astandard bidding process, or other predetermined process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. In addition, the original ticket holder is optionally reimbursedwith award points, a percentage of the revenue, a flat fee, anadditional event ticket that might also be upgradable, and/or any othermeans for rewarding the original ticket holder. The patron's seat maythen optionally be made available as an empty seat to the re-allocationprocess. If a predetermined period of time has not expired, then there-allocation process may be run again to optionally continuouslyre-allocate seats. The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticketon a wireless device for proof of entrance to the better seating area.Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section, includes a separatereader device to receive optionally the original ticket that is nowre-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket that may optionally bereceived by the patron via the wireless device and/or manually via aworker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart of a third embodiment of the invention. In FIG.30, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. Currently, such a process isimpossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reserved seatingevents have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to the beginningof the event. The present invention represents a revolutionary processto enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionally provideadditional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally other patronswith the desirable ticket.

The seat re-allocation process is used to re-assign seat for patronsthat are willing or interested in different or better seats. Suchre-allocation processes or algorithms may include a random process, aprocess where priority patrons are given priority for re-assignment ofseat, a process where patrons are willing to pay additional for there-assignment to either the theater or the individual patron whose seatis being provided to another patron, frequent event patrons, seasonticket patrons, a standard bidding process, or other predeterminedprocess. Simultaneously or subsequently, the check in procedurecontinues for a predetermined period of time until a predetermined timeperiod has expired, for example, 5 minutes before the event begins, 10minutes after the event begins, after a predetermined event, such as thesecond act of a play, and the like. Once the predetermined time periodor event has been completed, the check in procedure may be consideredcompleted to begin the seat re-allocation process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. If theseadditional seats are added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. If a predetermined period oftime has not expired, then the re-allocation process may be run again tooptionally continuously re-allocate seats. The patron may optionallystore the up-graded ticket on a wireless device for proof of entrance tothe better seating area. Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section,includes a separate reader device to receive optionally the originalticket that is now re-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket thatmay optionally be received by the patron via the wireless device and/ormanually via a worker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart of a fourth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.31, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. Currently, such a process isimpossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reserved seatingevents have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to the beginningof the event. The present invention represents a revolutionary processto enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionally provideadditional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally other patronswith the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, astandard bidding process, or other predetermined process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

If no confirmation is received from the patron for a predeterminedperiod of time, the re-allocation process continues to wait until thepredetermined period of time has expired. Once the predetermined periodof time has expired and there is no response received from the patronprovided with the option of changing their seat, the patron is clearedor removed from the eligible list, and the seat is considered orassigned empty status for the re-allocation algorithm to be againimplemented.

If the patron accepts and a confirmation is received, payment of moneyor other means may be effectuated on the spot via the wireless device,credit card, debit card, points, and the like, and the patron may nowmove to the other seat. The patron's seat may then optionally be madeavailable as an empty seat to the re-allocation process. If apredetermined period of time has not expired, then the re-allocationprocess may be run again to optionally continuously re-allocate seats.The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticket on a wirelessdevice for proof of entrance to the better seating area. Optionally, theseat and/or row and/or section, includes a separate reader device toreceive optionally the original ticket that is now re-allocated to abetter seat, or a new ticket that may optionally be received by thepatron via the wireless device and/or manually via a worker in thetheater or stadium.

Of course, to re-allocation algorithm does not have to be run orimplemented one patron at a time, but may be run to re-allocate orre-assign a plurality of patrons. If one patron or higher prioritypatron does not accept, then the next already generated patron may bequeried to determine whether the next patron desires the seatre-allocation. Further, the system optionally downloads instructions onhow to get to the new location, and can provide step-by-stepinstructions using an optional standard global positioning system (GPS)incorporated in, or as a separate accessory to, the wireless device.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart of a fifth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.32, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. Currently, such a process isimpossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reserved seatingevents have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to the beginningof the event. The present invention represents a revolutionary processto enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionally provideadditional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally other patronswith the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, astandard bidding process, or other predetermined process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

If the patron accepts, payment of money or other means may beeffectuated on the spot via the wireless device, credit card, debitcard, points, and the like, and the patron may now move to the otherseat. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. The process then optionallydetermines whether there have been additional vacancies, for example,just prior to the event, during the event or as a result ofpredetermined processes, and empties and/or makes available theseadditional seats for the event. For example, if standard smart card,standard scanner, standard bluetooth, wireless, or other technology isused in the present invention, additional seats may be made available aspatrons leave the event early, for example 1f diverted for an urgentbusiness meeting, and the like. These additional seats may provideadditional opportunities for patron satisfaction, revenue (theater orpatrons), advertising, advertising sponsorship for banner advertising onthe wireless device and/or in the theater, and the like. Thus, scannersposted at strategic locations, for example, at the exit of the theateror stadium will confirm that the patron is leaving, and optionallyprompt the patron to confirm that they do not plan on returning. Thisembodiment may optionally be used in other embodiments of the presentinvention, and vice versa.

If a predetermined period of time has not expired, then there-allocation process may be run again to optionally continuouslyre-allocate seats while advantageously including the additional seats.The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticket on a wirelessdevice for proof of entrance to the better seating area. Optionally, theseat and/or row and/or section, includes a separate reader device toreceive optionally the original ticket that is now re-allocated to abetter seat, or a new ticket that may optionally be received by thepatron via the wireless device and/or manually via a worker in thetheater or stadium.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of a sixth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.33, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. The patron may check in either apredetermined time before or after the event begins. Currently, such aprocess is impossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reservedseating events have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to thebeginning of the event. The present invention represents a revolutionaryprocess to enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionallyprovide additional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally otherpatrons with the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, astandard bidding process, or other predetermined process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. Optionally, a bidding process may beinitiated that allows various patrons to bid against one another. Anystandard bidding process may optionally be used. The patron, of coursehas the option to decline, and if so, the process continues and returnsto the re-allocation process to attempt to locate another possiblepatron.

The patron is prompted for the method of obtaining the tickets, such asa payment method, such as credit card, debit card, cash, pointredemption, or optionally a gift/prize. The patron subsequently selectsa payment method. The patron's account is debited at a future time, oroptionally immediately via connection to a standard clearinghousenetwork, such as visa network, master card network or other network viadirect connection or via the Internet, and the like. If sufficient fundsdo not exist, then the person is cleared or rejected from theopportunity for the seat re-allocation/upgrade process. If sufficientfunds do exist, then the patron's account is debited or points deducted.Alternatively, one person may purchase the upgrade on behalf of anotherperson.

The patron then moves to the new seat, and the system then clears thepatron's old seat from the system to optionally provide re-allocation ofthe previous seat. As indicated previously, if the patron accepts,payment of money or other means may be effectuated on the spot via thewireless device, credit card, debit card, points, and the like, and thepatron may now move to the other seat. The patron's seat may thenoptionally be made available as an empty seat to the re-allocationprocess. If a predetermined period of time has not expired, then there-allocation process may be run again to optionally continuouslyre-allocate seats. The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticketon a wireless device for proof of entrance to the better seating area.Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section, includes a separatereader device to receive optionally the original ticket that is nowre-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket that may optionally bereceived by the patron via the wireless device and/or manually via aworker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart of a seventh embodiment of the invention. In FIG.34, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. Currently, such a process isimpossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reserved seatingevents have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to the beginningof the event. The present invention represents a revolutionary processto enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionally provideadditional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally other patronswith the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, astandard bidding process, or other predetermined process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat.

The patron, of course has the option to decline, and if so, the processcontinues and returns to the re-allocation process to attempt to locateanother possible patron.

The patron is prompted for the method of obtaining the tickets, such asa payment method, such as credit card, debit card, cash, pointredemption, or optionally a gift/prize. The patron subsequently selectsa payment method. The patron's account is debited at a future time, oroptionally immediately via connection to a standard clearinghousenetwork, such as visa network, master card network or other network viadirect connection or via the Internet, and the like.

If sufficient funds do not exist, then the person is cleared or rejectedfrom the opportunity for the seat re-allocation/upgrade process. Ifsufficient funds do exist, then the patron's account is debited orpoints deducted. Alternatively, one person may purchase the upgrade onbehalf of another person.

The patron then moves to the new seat, and the system then clears thepatron's old seat from the system to optionally provide re-allocation ofthe previous seat. As indicated previously, if the patron accepts,payment of money or other means may be effectuated on the spot via thewireless device, credit card, debit card, points, and the like, and thepatron may now move to the other seat. In addition, the original ticketholder is optionally reimbursed with award points, a percentage of therevenue, a flat fee, an additional event ticket that might also beupgradable, and/or any other means for rewarding the original ticketholder. The patron's seat may then optionally be made available as anempty seat to the re-allocation process. If a predetermined period oftime has not expired, then the re-allocation process may be run again tooptionally continuously re-allocate seats. The patron may optionallystore the up-graded ticket on a wireless device for proof of entrance tothe better seating area. Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section,includes a separate reader device to receive optionally the originalticket that is now re-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket thatmay optionally be received by the patron via the wireless device and/ormanually via a worker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart of an eighth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.35, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. Currently, such a process isimpossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reserved seatingevents have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to the beginningof the event. The present invention represents a revolutionary processto enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionally provideadditional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally other patronswith the desirable ticket.

The seat re-allocation process is used to re-assign seat for patronsthat are willing or interested in different or better seats. Suchre-allocation processes or algorithms may include a random process, aprocess where priority patrons are given priority for re-assignment ofseat, a process where patrons are willing to pay additional for there-assignment to either the theater or the individual patron whose seatis being provided to another patron, frequent event patrons, seasonticket patrons, a standard bidding process, or other predeterminedprocess. Simultaneously or subsequently, the check in procedurecontinues for a predetermined period of time until a predetermined timeperiod has expired, for example, 5 minutes before the event begins, 10minutes after the event begins, after a predetermined event, such as thesecond act of a play, and the like. Once the predetermined time periodor event has been completed, the check in procedure may be consideredcompleted to begin the seat re-allocation process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

The patron is prompted for the method of obtaining the tickets, such asa payment method, such as credit card, debit card, cash, pointredemption, or optionally a gift/prize. The patron subsequently selectsa payment method. The patron's account is debited at a future time, oroptionally immediately via connection to a standard clearinghousenetwork, such as visa network, master card network or other network viadirect connection or via the Internet, and the like. If sufficient fundsdo not exist, then the person is cleared or rejected from theopportunity for the seat re-allocation/upgrade process. If sufficientfunds do exist, then the patron's account is debited or points deducted.Alternatively, one person may purchase the upgrade on behalf of anotherperson.

The patron then moves to the new seat, and the system then clears thepatron's old seat from the system to optionally provide re-allocation ofthe previous seat. As indicated previously, if the patron accepts,payment of money or other means may be effectuated on the spot via thewireless device, credit card, debit card, points, and the like, and thepatron may now move to the other seat. The patron's seat may thenoptionally be made available as an empty seat to the re-allocationprocess. If a predetermined period of time has not expired, then there-allocation process may be run again to optionally continuouslyre-allocate seats. The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticketon a wireless device for proof of entrance to the better seating area.Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section, includes a separatereader device to receive optionally the original ticket that is nowre-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket that may optionally bereceived by the patron via the wireless device and/or manually via aworker in the theater or stadium.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart of a ninth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.36, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. Currently, such a process isimpossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reserved seatingevents have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to the beginningof the event. The present invention represents a revolutionary processto enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionally provideadditional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally other patronswith the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, astandard bidding process, or other predetermined process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

The patron is prompted for the method of obtaining the tickets, such asa payment method, such as credit card, debit card, cash, pointredemption, or optionally a gift/prize. The patron subsequently selectsa payment method. The patron's account is debited at a future time, oroptionally immediately via connection to a standard clearinghousenetwork, such as visa network, master card network or other network viadirect connection or via the Internet, and the like. If sufficient fundsdo not exist, then the person is cleared or rejected from theopportunity for the seat re-allocation/upgrade process. If sufficientfunds do exist, then the patron's account is debited or points deducted.Alternatively, one person may purchase the upgrade on behalf of anotherperson.

The patron then moves to the new seat, and the system then clears thepatron's old seat from the system to optionally provide re-allocation ofthe previous seat.

If no confirmation is received from the patron for a predeterminedperiod of time, the re-allocation process continues to wait until thepredetermined period of time has expired. Once the predetermined periodof time has expired and there is no response received from the patronprovided with the option of changing their seat, the patron is clearedor removed from the eligible list, and the seat is considered orassigned empty status for the re-allocation algorithm to be againimplemented.

As indicated previously, if the patron accepts and a confirmation isreceived, payment of money or other means may be effectuated on the spotvia the wireless device, credit card, debit card, points, and the like,and the patron may now move to the other seat. The patron's seat maythen optionally be made available as an empty seat to the re-allocationprocess. If a predetermined period of time has not expired, then there-allocation process may be run again to optionally continuouslyre-allocate seats. The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticketon a wireless device for proof of entrance to the better seating area.Optionally, the seat and/or row and/or section, includes a separatereader device to receive optionally the original ticket that is nowre-allocated to a better seat, or a new ticket that may optionally bereceived by the patron via the wireless device and/or manually via aworker in the theater or stadium.

Of course, to re-allocation algorithm does not have to be run orimplemented one patron at a time, but may be run to re-allocate orre-assign a plurality of patrons. If one patron or higher prioritypatron does not accept, then the next already generated patron may bequeried to determine whether the next patron desires the seatre-allocation. Further, the system optionally downloads instructions onhow to get to the new location, and can provide step-by-stepinstructions using an optional standard global positioning system (GPS)incorporated in, or as a separate accessory to, the wireless device.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart of a tenth embodiment of the invention. In FIG.37, the process begins by enrolling members in the program that areinterested in the ticket upgrade. Tickets are checked in, for example,as the patrons enter the reserved seating area, such as a stadium ortheater, through, for example, bar code readers, scanners, infraredreaders, and/or manually or other method where the patron is checked in,either at the gate, seat or other location. An optional separate checkin area is provided for patrons that want to participate in the upgradeprogram. For example, patrons can optionally check in a predeterminedtime before the event through a wireless device, Internet connection,manual or voice recognition telephone, or other manner. The importantpoint is to provide a standard manner for allowing patrons to check in,and if the patron fails to check in using a predetermined procedure, toallow that seat to be provided to another willing patron in accordancewith a process to be described below. Currently, such a process isimpossible and unthinkable in view of the difficulty reserved seatingevents have in simply getting the patrons seated prior to the beginningof the event. The present invention represents a revolutionary processto enhance event enjoyment, earn patron loyalty and optionally provideadditional revenues to the theater/stadium or optionally other patronswith the desirable ticket.

The check in procedure continues for a predetermined period of timeuntil a predetermined time period has expired, for example, 5 minutesbefore the event begins, 10 minutes after the event begins, after apredetermined event, such as the second act of a play, and the like.Once the predetermined time period or event has been completed, thecheck in procedure may be considered completed to begin the seatre-allocation process. To begin the seat re-allocation process, are-allocation algorithm is used to re-assign seat for patrons that arewilling or interested in different or better seats. Such re-allocationprocesses or algorithms may include a random process, a process wherepriority patrons are given priority for re-assignment of seat, a processwhere patrons are willing to pay additional for the re-assignment toeither the theater or the individual patron whose seat is being providedto another patron, frequent event patrons, season ticket patrons, astandard bidding process, or other predetermined process.

An optional polling process to poll existing members and non-members inseats to whether additional seats are available. That is, in anotheroptional embodiment of the present invention, non-members may also maketheir seats available for re-allocation/re-sale at any point in theprocess. In this additional polling process, the next step is todetermine whether additional seats have been made available. Ifadditional seats have been made available, then these additional seatsare added to the list of available.

If the patron that is identified by the re-allocation process isdetermined to be present in the theater, for example, via mobiletelephone, wireless device, and/or manual verification, an optionalsub-process determines whether the patron's optional profile is alsosatisfied with the available seating. If the optional subscriber profileis not satisfied, then the re-allocation process searches for anotherpossible patron. If the optional profile sub-process is satisfied, thenthe eligible patron is notified via one or means, such as announcement,manually, wireless device, mobile telephone, bulletin board, and/orother means. The patron is then notified and presented with the optionof moving for free, use of award points, additional money to the theaterand/or patron to whose seat is being provided, or other predeterminedcriteria to obtain the seat. The patron, of course has the option todecline, and if so, the process continues and returns to there-allocation process to attempt to locate another possible patron.

The patron is prompted for the method of obtaining the tickets, such asa payment method, such as credit card, debit card, cash, pointredemption, or optionally a gift/prize. The patron subsequently selectsa payment method. The patron's account is debited at a future time, oroptionally immediately via connection to a standard clearinghousenetwork, such as visa network, master card network or other network viadirect connection or via the Internet, and the like. If sufficient fundsdo not exist, then the person is cleared or rejected from theopportunity for the seat re-allocation/upgrade process. If sufficientfunds do exist, then the patron's account is debited or points deducted.Alternatively, one person may purchase the upgrade on behalf of anotherperson.

The patron then moves to the new seat, and the system then clears thepatron's old seat from the system to optionally provide re-allocation ofthe previous seat. As indicated previously, if the patron accepts,payment of money or other means may be effectuated on the spot via thewireless device, credit card, debit card, points, and the like, and thepatron may now move to the other seat. The patron's seat may thenoptionally be made available as an empty seat to the re-allocationprocess. The process then optionally determines whether there have beenadditional vacancies, for example, just prior to the event, during theevent or as a result of predetermined processes, and empties and/ormakes available these additional seats for the event. For example, ifstandard smart card, standard scanner, standard bluetooth, wireless, orother technology is used in the present invention, additional seats maybe made available as patrons leave the event early, for example 1fdiverted for an urgent business meeting, and the like. These additionalseats may provide additional opportunities for patron satisfaction,revenue (theater or patrons), advertising, advertising sponsorship forbanner advertising on the wireless device and/or in the theater, and thelike. Thus, scanners posted at strategic locations, for example, at theexit of the theater or stadium will confirm that the patron is leaving,and optionally prompt the patron to confirm that they do not plan onreturning. This embodiment may optionally be used in other embodimentsof the present invention, and vice versa.

If a predetermined period of time has not expired, then there-allocation process may be run again to optionally continuouslyre-allocate seats while advantageously including the additional seats.The patron may optionally store the up-graded ticket on a wirelessdevice for proof of entrance to the better seating area. Optionally, theseat and/or row and/or section, includes a separate reader device toreceive optionally the original ticket that is now re-allocated to abetter seat, or a new ticket that may optionally be received by thepatron via the wireless device and/or manually via a worker in thetheater or stadium.

FIG. 38 is an illustration of a main central processing unit forimplementing the computer processing in accordance with a computerimplemented embodiment of the present invention. The proceduresdescribed above may be presented in terms of program procedures executedon, for example, a computer or network of computers.

Viewed externally in FIG. 38, a computer system designated by referencenumeral 40 has a central processing unit 42 having disk drives 44 and46. Disk drive indications 44 and 46 are merely symbolic of a number ofdisk drives which might be accommodated by the computer system.Typically these would include a floppy disk drive such as 44, a harddisk drive (not shown externally) and a CD ROM indicated by slot 46. Thenumber and type of drives varies, typically with different computerconfigurations. Disk drives 44 and 46 are in fact optional, and forspace considerations, may easily be omitted from the computer systemused in conjunction with the production process/apparatus describedherein.

The computer also has an optional display 48 upon which information isdisplayed. In some situations, a keyboard 50 and a mouse 52 may beprovided as input devices to interface with the central processing unit42. Then again, for enhanced portability, the keyboard 50 may be eithera limited function keyboard or omitted in its entirety. In addition,mouse 52 may be a touch pad control device, or a track ball device, oreven omitted in its entirety as well. In addition, the computer systemalso optionally includes at least one infrared transmitter 76 and/orinfrared receiver 78 for either transmitting and/or receiving infraredsignals, as described below.

FIG. 39 illustrates a block diagram of the internal hardware of thecomputer of FIG. 38. A bus 56 serves as the main information highwayinterconnecting the other components of the computer. CPU 58 is thecentral processing unit of the system, performing calculations and logicoperations required to execute a program. Read only memory (ROM) 60 andrandom access memory (RAM) 62 constitute the main memory of thecomputer. Disk controller 64 interfaces one or more disk drives to thesystem bus 56. These disk drives may be floppy disk drives such as 70,or CD ROM or DVD (digital video disks) drive such as 66, or internal orexternal hard drives 68. As indicated previously, these various diskdrives and disk controllers are optional devices.

A display interface 72 interfaces display 48 and permits informationfrom the bus 56 to be displayed on the display 48. Again as indicated,display 48 is also an optional accessory. For example, display 48 couldbe substituted or omitted. Communication with external devices, forexample, the components of the apparatus described herein, occursutilizing communication port 74. For example, optical fibers and/orelectrical cables and/or conductors and/or optical communication (e.g.,infrared, and the like) and/or wireless communication (e.g., radiofrequency (RF), and the like) can be used as the transport mediumbetween the external devices and communication port 74.

In addition to the standard components of the computer, the computeralso optionally includes at least one of infrared transmitter 76 orinfrared receiver 78. Infrared transmitter 76 is utilized when thecomputer system is used in conjunction with one or more of theprocessing components/stations that transmits/receives data via infraredsignal transmission.

FIG. 40 is a block diagram of the internal hardware of the computer ofFIG. 38 in accordance with a second embodiment. In FIG. 40, instead ofutilizing an infrared transmitter or infrared receiver, the computersystem uses at least one of a low power radio transmitter 80 and/or alow power radio receiver 82. The low power radio transmitter 80transmits the signal for reception by components of the productionprocess, and receives signals from the components via the low powerradio receiver 82. The low power radio transmitter and/or receiver 80,82 are standard devices in industry.

FIG. 41 is an illustration of an exemplary memory medium which can beused with disk drives illustrated in FIGS. 38–40. Typically, memorymedia such as floppy disks, or a CD ROM, or a digital video disk willcontain, for example, a multi-byte locale for a single byte language andthe program information for controlling the computer to enable thecomputer to perform the functions described herein. Alternatively, ROM60 and/or RAM 62 illustrated in FIGS. 37–38 can also be used to storethe program information that is used to instruct the central processingunit 58 to perform the operations associated with the productionprocess.

Although processing system 40 is illustrated having a single processor,a single hard disk drive and a single local memory, processing system 40may suitably be equipped with any multitude or combination of processorsor storage devices. Processing system 40 may, in point of fact, bereplaced by, or combined with, any suitable processing system operativein accordance with the principles of the present invention, includingsophisticated calculators, and hand-held, laptop/notebook, mini,mainframe and super computers, as well as processing system networkcombinations of the same.

Conventional processing system architecture is more fully discussed inComputer Organization and Architecture, by William Stallings, MacMillamPublishing Co. (3rd ed. 1993); conventional processing system networkdesign is more fully discussed in Data Network Design, by Darren L.Spohn, McGraw-Hill, Inc. (1993), and conventional data communications ismore fully discussed in Data Communications Principles, by R. D. Gitlin,J. F. Hayes and S. B. Weinstain, Plenum Press (1992) and in The IrwinHandbook of Telecommunications, by James Harry Green, Irwin ProfessionalPublishing (2nd ed. 1992). Each of the foregoing publications isincorporated herein by reference.

Alternatively, the hardware configuration may be arranged according tothe multiple instruction multiple data (MIMD) multiprocessor format foradditional computing efficiency. The details of this form of computerarchitecture are disclosed in greater detail in, for example, U.S. Pat.No. 5,163,131; Boxer, A., Where Buses Cannot Go, IEEE Spectrum, February1995, pp. 41–45; and Barroso, L. A. et al., RPM: A Rapid PrototypingEngine for Multiprocessor Systems, IEEE Computer February 1995, pp.26–34, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In alternate preferred embodiments, the above-identified processor, andin particular microprocessing circuit 58, may be replaced by or combinedwith any other suitable processing circuits, including programmablelogic devices, such as PALs (programmable array logic) and PLAs(programmable logic arrays). DSPs (digital signal processors), FPGAs(field programmable gate arrays), ASICs (application specific integratedcircuits), VLSIs (very large scale integrated circuits) or the like.

FIG. 42 is an illustration of the functional operation of the maincentral processing system illustrated in FIGS. 38–41. In FIG. 42, maincentral processing unit 40 interfaces with various external databases85–88 to obtain the necessary information for tracking the performanceof the resources. Main central processing unit 40 may be hardwired ordirectly connected to databases 85–88, or alternatively, accessdatabases 85–88 via a private and/or public network 89.

Main central processing unit 40 is connected to an output device 90 forgenerating the report. The output device 90 may be a printer, or otheroutput device such as a facsimile, electronic mail, and the like. Maincentral processing unit 40 includes, for example, a client managermodule 91, such as Broker's Ally manufactured by Scherrer Resources,Inc. of Philadelphia, Pa. that may be modified to perform the functionsdescribed herein.

Main central processing unit 40 includes, for example, a transactiontracking or logging module 92, such as the functionality provided by theExcel Software package manufactured by Microsoft Corporation that may bemodified to perform the functions described herein. Main centralprocessing unit 40 also includes, for example, a manager/reportgenerator module 91, such as Axys manufactured by Advent Software, Inc.of San Francisco, Calif., that may be modified to perform the functionsdescribed herein. Other suitable software packages are also availablethat may be modified to perform the functions described herein.

It should be noted that while the above process was described withreference to the figures, in essence, the various steps of the presentinvention are performed in hardware. Accordingly, each step of thepresent invention typically generates a physical electrical signal whichrepresents a physical result of a specific step described in the flowcharts. The flow charts represent physical electrical signals which aregenerated and used in subsequent steps of the process. Therefore, theflowcharts represent the transforming of physical electrical signalsrepresenting physical characteristics and quantities into other physicalelectrical signals also representing transformed physicalcharacteristics.

The Internet is not a physical or tangible entity, but rather a giantnetwork which interconnects innumerable smaller groups of linkedcomputer networks. It is thus a network of networks. This is bestunderstood if one considers what a linked group of computers—referred tohere as a “network”—is, and what it does. Small networks are nowubiquitous (and are often called “local area networks”). For example, inmany United States Courthouses, computers are linked to each other forthe purpose of exchanging files and messages (and to share equipmentsuch as printers). These are networks.

Some networks are “closed” networks, not linked to other computers ornetworks. Many networks, however, are connected to other networks, whichare in turn connected to other networks in a manner which permits eachcomputer in any network to communicate with computers on any othernetwork in the system. This global Web of linked networks and computersis referred to as the Internet.

The nature of the Internet is such that it is very difficult, if notimpossible, to determine its size at a given moment. It is indisputable,however, that the Internet has experienced extraordinary growth inrecent years. In 1981, fewer than 300 computers were linked to theInternet, and by 1989, the number stood at fewer than 90,000 computers.By 1993, over 1,000,000 computers were linked. Today, over 9,400,000host computers worldwide, of which approximately 60 percent locatedwithin the United States, are estimated to be linked to the Internet.This count does not include the personal computers people use to accessthe Internet using modems. In all, reasonable estimates are that as manyas 40 million people around the world can and do access the enormouslyflexible communication Internet medium. That figure is expected to growto 200 million Internet users by the year 1999.

Some of the computers and computer networks that make up the Internetare owned by governmental and public institutions, some are owned bynon-profit organizations, and some are privately owned. The resultingwhole is a decentralized, global medium of communications—or“cyberspace” —that links people, institutions, corporations, andgovernments around the world. The Internet is an international system.This communications medium allows any of the literally tens of millionsof people with access to the Internet to exchange information. Thesecommunications can occur almost instantaneously, and can be directedeither to specific individuals, to a broader group of people interestedin a particular subject, or to the world as a whole.

The Internet had its origins in 1969 as an experimental project of theAdvanced Research Project Agency (“ARPA”), and was called ARPANET. Thisnetwork linked computers and computer networks owned by the military,defense contractors, and university laboratories conductingdefense-related research. The network later allowed researchers acrossthe country to access directly and to use extremely powerfulsupercomputers located at a few key universities and laboratories. As itevolved far beyond its research origins in the United States toencompass universities, corporations, and people around the world, theARPANET came to be called the “DARPA Internet,” and finally just the“Internet.”

From its inception, the network was designed to be a decentralized,self-maintaining series of redundant links between computers andcomputer networks, capable of rapidly transmitting communicationswithout direct human involvement or control, and with the automaticability to re-route communications if one or more individual links weredamaged or otherwise unavailable. Among other goals, this redundantsystem of linked computers was designed to allow vital research andcommunications to continue even if portions of the network were damaged,say, in a war.

To achieve this resilient nationwide (and ultimately global)communications medium, the ARPANET encouraged the creation of multiplelinks to and from each computer (or computer network) on the network.Thus, a computer located in Washington, D.C., might be linked (usuallyusing dedicated telephone lines) to other computers in neighboringstates or on the Eastern seaboard. Each of those computers could in turnbe linked to other computers, which themselves would be linked to othercomputers.

A communication sent over this redundant series of linked computerscould travel any of a number of routes to its destination. Thus, amessage sent from a computer in Washington, D.C., to a computer in PaloAlto, Calif., might first be sent to a computer in Philadelphia, andthen be forwarded to a computer in Pittsburgh, and then to Chicago,Denver, and Salt Lake City, before finally reaching Palo Alto. If themessage could not travel along that path (because of military attack,simple technical malfunction, or other reason), the message wouldautomatically (without human intervention or even knowledge) bere-routed, perhaps, from Washington, D.C. to Richmond, and then toAtlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, and finally toPalo Alto. This type of transmission, and re-routing, would likely occurin a matter of seconds.

Messages between computers on the Internet do not necessarily travelentirely along the same path. The Internet uses “packet switching”communication protocols that allow individual messages to be subdividedinto smaller “packets” that are then sent independently to thedestination, and are then automatically reassembled by the receivingcomputer. While all packets of a given message of ten travel along thesame path to the destination, if computers along the route becomeoverloaded, then packets can be re-routed to less loaded computers.

At the same time that ARPANET was maturing (it subsequently ceased toexist), similar networks developed to link universities, researchfacilities, businesses, and individuals around the world. These otherformal or loose networks included BITNET, CSNET, FIDONET, and USENET.Eventually, each of these networks (many of which overlapped) werethemselves linked together, allowing users of any computers linked toany one of the networks to transmit communications to users of computerson other networks. It is this series of linked networks (themselveslinking computers and computer networks) that is today commonly known asthe Internet.

No single entity—academic, corporate, governmental, ornon-profit—administers the Internet. It exists and functions as a resultof the fact that hundreds of thousands of separate operators ofcomputers and computer networks independently decided to use common datatransfer protocols to exchange communications and information with othercomputers (which in turn exchange communications and information withstill other computers). There is no centralized storage location,control point, or communications channel for the Internet, and it wouldnot be technically feasible for a single entity to control all of theinformation conveyed on the Internet.

How Individuals Access the Internet

Individuals have a wide variety of avenues to access cyberspace ingeneral, and the Internet in particular. In terms of physical access,there are two common methods to establish an actual link to theInternet. First, one can use a computer or computer terminal that isdirectly (and usually permanently) connected to a computer network thatis itself directly or indirectly connected to the Internet. Second, onecan use a “personal computer”with a “modem” to connect over a telephoneline to a larger computer or computer network that is itself directly orindirectly connected to the Internet. As detailed below, both direct andmodem connections are made available to people by a wide variety ofacademic, governmental, or commercial entities.

Students, faculty, researchers, and others affiliated with the vastmajority of colleges and universities in the United States can accessthe Internet through their educational institutions. Such access isoften via direct connection using computers located in campus libraries,offices, or computer centers, or may be through telephone access using amodem from a student's or professor's campus or off-campus location.Some colleges and universities install “ports” or outlets for directnetwork connections in each dormitory room or provide access viacomputers located in common areas in dormitories. Such access enablesstudents and professors to use information and content provided by thecollege or university itself, and to use the vast amount of researchresources and other information available on the Internet worldwide.

Similarly, Internet resources and access are sufficiently important tomany corporations and other employers that those employers link theiroffice computer networks to the Internet and provide employees withdirect or modem access to the office network (and thus to the Internet).Such access might be used by, for example, a corporation involved inscientific or medical research or manufacturing to enable corporateemployees to exchange information and ideas with academic researchers intheir fields.

Those who lack access to the Internet through their schools or employersstill have a variety of ways they can access the Internet. Manycommunities across the country have established “free-nets” or communitynetworks to provide their citizens with a local link to the Internet(and to provide local-oriented content and discussion groups). The firstsuch community network, the Cleveland Free-Net Community ComputerSystem, was established in 1986, and free-nets now exist in scores ofcommunities as diverse as Richmond, Virginia, Tallahassee, Florida,Seattle, Wash., and San Diego, Calif. Individuals typically can accessfree-nets at little or no cost via modem connection or by usingcomputers available in community buildings. Free-nets are often operatedby a local library, educational institution, or non-profit communitygroup.

Individuals can also access the Internet through many local libraries.Libraries often offer patrons use of computers that are linked to theInternet. In addition, some libraries offer telephone modem access tothe libraries' computers, which are themselves connected to theInternet. Increasingly, patrons now use library services and resourceswithout ever physically entering the library itself. Libraries typicallyprovide such direct or modem access at no cost to the individual user.

Individuals can also access the Internet by patronizing an increasingnumber of storefront “computer coffee shops,” where customers—while theydrink their coffee—can use computers provided by the shop to access theInternet. Such Internet access is typically provided by the shop for asmall hourly fee.

Individuals can also access the Internet through commercial andnon-commercial “Internet service providers” that typically offer modemtelephone access to a computer or computer network linked to theInternet. Many such providers are commercial entities offering Internetaccess for a monthly or hourly fee. Some Internet service providers,however, are non-profit organizations that offer free or very low costaccess to the Internet. For example, the International InternetAssociation offers free modem access to the Internet upon request. Also,a number of trade or other non-profit associations offer Internet accessas a service to members.

Another common way for individuals to access the Internet is through oneof the major national commercial “online services” such as AmericaOnline, CompuServe, the Microsoft Network, or Prodigy. These onlineservices offer nationwide computer networks (so that subscribers candial-in to a local telephone number), and the services provide extensiveand well organized content within their own proprietary computernetworks. In addition to allowing access to the extensive contentavailable within each online service, the services also allowsubscribers to link to the much larger resources of the Internet. Fullaccess to the online service (including access to the Internet) can beobtained for modest monthly or hourly fees. The major commercial onlineservices have almost twelve million individual subscribers across theUnited States.

In addition to using the national commercial online services,individuals can also access the Internet using some (but not all) of thethousands of local dial-in computer services, often called “bulletinboard systems” or “BBSs.” With an investment of as little as $2,000.00and the cost of a telephone line, individuals, non-profit organizations,advocacy groups, and businesses can offer their own dial-in computer“bulletin board” service where friends, members, subscribers, orcustomers can exchange ideas and information. BBSs range from singlecomputers with only one telephone line into the computer (allowing onlyone user at a time), to single computers with many telephone lines intothe computer (allowing multiple simultaneous users), to multiple linkedcomputers each servicing multiple dial-in telephone lines (allowingmultiple simultaneous users). Some (but not all) of these BBS systemsoffer direct or indirect links to the Internet. Some BBS systems chargeusers a nominal fee for access, while many others are free to theindividual users.

Although commercial access to the Internet is growing rapidly, manyusers of the Internet—such as college students and staff—do notindividually pay for access (except to the extent, for example, that thecost of computer services is a component of college tuition). These andother Internet users can access the Internet without paying for suchaccess with a credit card or other form of payment.

Methods to Communicate Over the Internet

Once one has access to the Internet, there are a wide variety ofdifferent methods of communication and information exchange over thenetwork. These many methods of communication and information retrievalare constantly evolving and are therefore difficult to categorizeconcisely. The most common methods of communications on the Internet (aswell as within the major online services) can be roughly grouped intosix categories:

-   -   (1) one-to-one messaging (such as “e-mail”),    -   (2) one-to-many messaging (such as “listserv”),    -   (3) distributed message databases (such as “USENET newsgroups”),    -   (4) real time communication (such as “Internet Relay Chat”),    -   (5) real time remote computer utilization (such as        “telnet”), (6) remote information retrieval (such as “ftp,”        “gopher,” and the “World Wide Web”).

Most of these methods of communication can be used to transmit text,data, computer programs, sound, visual images (i.e., pictures), andmoving video images.

One-to-one messaging. One method of communication on the Internet is viaelectronic mail, or “e-mail,” comparable in principle to sending a firstclass letter. One can address and transmit a message to one or moreother people. E-mail on the Internet is not routed through a centralcontrol point, and can take many and varying paths to the recipients.Unlike postal mail, simple e-mail generally is not “sealed” or secure,and can be accessed or viewed on intermediate computers between thesender and recipient (unless the message is encrypted).

One-to-many messaging. The Internet also contains automatic mailing listservices (such as “listservs”), that allow communications aboutparticular subjects of interest to a group of people. For example,people can subscribe to a “listserv” mailing list on a particular topicof interest to them. The subscriber can submit messages on the topic tothe listserv that are forwarded (via e-mail), either automatically orthrough a human moderator overseeing the listserv, to anyone who hassubscribed to the mailing list. A recipient of such a message can replyto the message and have the reply also distributed to everyone on themailing list. This service provides the capability to keep abreast ofdevelopments or events in a particular subject area.

Most listserv-type mailing lists automatically forward all incomingmessages to all mailing list subscribers. There are thousands of suchmailing list services on the Internet, collectively with hundreds ofthousands of subscribers. Users of “open” listservs typically can add orremove their names from the mailing list automatically, with no directhuman involvement. Listservs may also be “closed,” i.e., only allowingfor one's acceptance into the listserv by a human moderator.

Distributed message databases. Similar in function to listservs—butquite different in how communications are transmitted—are distributedmessage databases such as “USENET newsgroups.” User-sponsored newsgroupsare among the most popular and widespread applications of Internetservices, and cover all imaginable topics of interest to users. Likelistservs, newsgroups are open discussions and exchanges on particulartopics. Users, however, need not subscribe to the discussion mailinglist in advance, but can instead access the database at any time. SomeUSENET newsgroups are “moderated” but most are open access. For themoderated newsgroups, n10 all messages to the newsgroup are forwarded toone person who can screen them for relevance to the topics underdiscussion. USENET newsgroups are disseminated using ad hoc, peer topeer connections between approximately 200,000 computers (called USENET“servers”) around the world. For unmoderated newsgroups, when anindividual user with access to a USENET server posts a message to anewsgroup, the message is automatically forwarded to all adjacent USENETservers that furnish access to the newsgroup, and it is then propagatedto the servers adjacent to those servers, etc. The messages aretemporarily stored on each receiving server, where they are availablefor review and response by individual users. The messages areautomatically and periodically purged from each system after a time tomake room for new messages. Responses to messages, like the originalmessages, are automatically distributed to all other computers receivingthe newsgroup or forwarded to a moderator in the case of a moderatednewsgroup. The dissemination of messages to USENET servers around theworld is an automated process that does not require direct humanintervention or review.

There are newsgroups on more than fifteen thousand different subjects.In 1994, approximately 70,000 messages were posted to newsgroups eachday, and those messages were distributed to the approximately 190,000computers or computer networks that participate in the USENET newsgroupsystem. Once the messages reach the approximately 190,000 receivingcomputers or computer networks, they are available to individual usersof those computers or computer networks. Collectively, almost 100,000new messages (or “articles”) are posted to newsgroups each day.

Real time communication. In addition to transmitting messages that canbe later read or accessed, individuals on the Internet can engage in animmediate dialog, in “real time”, with other people on the Internet. Inits simplest forms, “talk” allows one-to-one communications and“Internet Relay Chat” (or IRC) allows two or more to type messages toeach other that almost immediately appear on the others' computerscreens. IRC is analogous to a telephone party line, using a computerand keyboard rather than a telephone. With IRC, however, at any one timethere are thousands of different party lines available, in whichcollectively tens of thousands of users are engaging in conversations ona huge range of subjects. Moreover, one can create a new party line todiscuss a different topic at any time. Some IRC conversations are“moderated” or include “channel operators.”

In addition, commercial online services such as America Online,CompuServe, the Microsoft Network, and Prodigy have their own “chat”systems allowing their members to converse.

Real time remote computer utilization. Another method to use informationon the Internet is to access and control remote computers in “real time”using “telnet.” For example, using telnet, a researcher at a universitywould be able to use the computing power of a supercomputer located at adifferent university. A student can use telnet to connect to a remotelibrary to access the library's online card catalog program.

Remote information retrieval. The final major category of communicationmay be the most well known use of the Internet—the search for andretrieval of information located on remote computers. There are threeprimary methods to locate and retrieve information on the Internet. Asimple method uses “ftp” (or file transfer protocol) to list the namesof computer files available on a remote computer, and to transfer one ormore of those files to an individual's local computer.

Another approach uses a program and format named “gopher” to guide anindividual's search through the resources available on a remotecomputer.

The World Wide Web

A third approach, and fast becoming the most well-known on the Internet,is the “World Wide Web.” The Web utilizes a “hypertext” formattinglanguage called hypertext markup language (HTML), and programs that“browse” the Web can display HTML documents containing text, images,sound, animation and moving video. Any HTML document can include linksto other types of information or resources, so that while viewing anHTML document that, for example, describes resources available on theInternet, one can “click” using a computer mouse on the description ofthe resource and be immediately connected to the resource itself. Such“hyperlinks” allow information to be accessed and organized in veryflexible ways, and allow people to locate and efficiently view relatedinformation even if the information is stored on numerous computers allaround the world.

Purpose. The World Wide Web (W3C) was created to serve as the platformfor a global, online store of knowledge, containing information from adiversity of sources and accessible to Internet users around the world.Though information on the Web is contained in individual computers, thefact that each of these computers is connected to the Internet throughW3C protocols allows all of the information to become part of a singlebody of knowledge. It is currently the most advanced information systemdeveloped on the Internet, and embraces within its data model mostinformation in previous networked information systems such as ftp,gopher, wais, and Usenet.

History. W3C was originally developed at CERN, the European ParticlePhysics Laboratory, and was initially used to allow information sharingwithin internationally dispersed teams of researchers and engineers.Originally aimed at the High Energy Physics community, it has spread toother areas and attracted much interest in user support, resourcerecovery, and many other areas which depend on collaborative andinformation sharing. The Web has extended beyond the scientific andacademic community to include communications by individuals, non-profitorganizations, and businesses.

Basic Operation. The World Wide Web is a series of documents stored indifferent computers all over the Internet. Documents contain informationstored in a variety of formats, including text, still images, sounds,and video. An essential element of the Web is that any document has anaddress (rather like a telephone number). Most Web documents contain“links.” These are short sections of text or image which refer toanother document. Typically the linked text is blue or underlined whendisplayed, and when selected by the user, the referenced document isautomatically displayed, wherever in the world it actually is stored.Links for example are used to lead from overview documents to moredetailed documents, from tables of contents to particular pages, butalso as cross-references, footnotes, and new forms of informationstructure.

Many organizations now have “home pages” on the Web. These are documentswhich provide a set of links designed to represent the organization, andthrough links from the home page, guide the user directly or indirectlyto information about or relevant to that organization. As an example ofthe use of links a home page might contain links such as those:

-   -   THE NATURE OF CYBERSPACE    -   CREATION OF THE INTERNET AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CYBERSPACE    -   HOW PEOPLE ACCESS THE INTERNET    -   METHODS TO COMMUNICATE OVER THE INTERNET

Links may take the user from the original Web site to another Web siteon another computer connected to the Internet. These links from onecomputer to another, from one document to another across the Internet,are what unify the Web into a single body of knowledge, and what makesthe Web unique. The Web was designed with a maximum target time tofollow a link of one tenth of a second.

Publishing. The World Wide Web exists fundamentally as a platformthrough which people and organizations can communicate through sharedinformation. When information is made available, it is said to be“published” on the Web. Publishing on the Web simply requires that the“publisher” has a computer connected to the Internet and that thecomputer is running W3C server software. The computer can be as simpleas a small personal computer costing less than $1500 dollars or ascomplex as a multi-million dollar mainframe computer. Many Webpublishers choose instead to lease disk storage space from someone elsewho has the necessary computer facilities, eliminating the need foractually owning any equipment oneself.

The Web, as a universe of network accessible information, contains avariety of documents prepared with quite varying degrees of care, fromthe hastily typed idea, to the professionally executed corporateprofile. The power of the Web stems from the ability of a link to pointto any document, regardless of its status or physical location.

Information to be published on the Web must also be formatted accordingto the rules of the Web standards. These standardized formats assurethat all Web users who want to read the material will be able to viewit. Web standards are sophisticated and flexible enough that they havegrown to meet the publishing needs of many large corporations, banks,brokerage houses, newspapers and magazines which now publish “online”editions of their material, as well as government agencies, and evencourts, which use the Web to disseminate information to the public. Atthe same time, Web publishing is simple enough that thousands ofindividual users and small community organizations are using the Web topublish their own personal “home pages,”the equivalent of individualizednewsletters about that person or organization, which are available toeveryone on the Web.

Web publishers have a choice to make their Web sites open to the generalpool of all Internet users, or close them, thus making the informationaccessible only to those with advance authorization. Many publisherschoose to keep their sites open to all in order to give theirinformation the widest potential audience. In the event that thepublishers choose to maintain restrictions on access, this may beaccomplished by assigning specific user names and passwords as aprerequisite to access to the site. Or, in the case of Web sitesmaintained for internal use of one organization, access will only beallowed from other computers within that organization's local network.

Searching the Web. A variety of systems have developed that allow usersof the Web to search particular information among all of the publicsites that are part of the Web. Services such as Yahoo, Magellan,Altavista, Webcrawler, and Lycos are all services known as “searchengines” which allow users to search for Web sites that contain certaincategories of information, or to search for key words. For example, aWeb user looking for the text of Supreme Court opinions would type thewords “Supreme Court” into a search engine, and then be presented with alist of World wide Web sites that contain Supreme Court information.This list would actually be a series of links to those sites. Havingsearched out a number of sites that might contain the desiredinformation, the user would then follow individual links, browsingthrough the information on each site, until the desired material isfound. For many content providers on the Web, the ability to be found bythese search engines is very important.

Common standards. The Web links together disparate information on anever-growing number of Internet-linked computers by setting commoninformation storage formats (HTML) and a common language for theexchange of Web documents (HTTP). Although the information itself may bein many different formats, and stored on computers which are nototherwise compatible, the basic Web standards provide a basic set ofstandards which allow communication and exchange of information. Despitethe fact that many types of computers are used on the Web, and the f actthat many of these machines are otherwise incompatible, those who“publish” information on the Web are able to communicate with those whoseek to access information with little difficulty because of these basictechnical standards.

A distributed system with no centralized control. Running on tens ofthousands of individual computers on the Internet, the Web is what isknown as a distributed system. The Web was designed so thatorganizations with computers containing information can become part ofthe Web simply by attaching their computers to the Internet and runningappropriate World Wide Web software. No single organization controls anymembership in the Web, nor is there any single centralized point fromwhich individual Web sites or services can be blocked from the Web. Froma user's perspective, it may appear to be a single, integrated system,but in reality it has no centralized control point.

Contrast to closed databases. The Web's open, distributed, decentralizednature stands in sharp contrast to most information systems that havecome before it. Private information services such as Westlaw,Lexis/Nexis, and Dialog, have contained large storehouses of knowledge,and can be accessed from the Internet with the appropriate passwords andaccess software. However, these databases are not linked together into asingle whole, as is the World Wide Web.

Success of the Web in research, education, and political activities. TheWorld Wide Web has become so popular because of its open, distributed,and easy-to-use nature. Rather than requiring those who seek informationto purchase new software or hardware, and to learn a new kind of systemfor each new database of information they seek to access, the Webenvironment makes it easy for users to jump from one set of informationto another. By the same token, the open nature of the Web makes it easyfor publishers to reach their intended audiences without having to knowin advance what kind of computer each potential reader has, and whatkind of software they will be using.

The Internet is not exclusively, or even primarily, a means ofcommercial communication. Many commercial entities maintain Web sites toinform potential consumers about their goods and services, or to solicitpurchases, but many other Web sites exist solely for the disseminationof non-commercial information. The other forms of Internetcommunication—e-mail, bulletin boards, newsgroups, and chatrooms—frequently have non-commercial goals. For the economic andtechnical reasons set forth in the following paragraphs, the Internet isan especially attractive means for not-for-profit entities or publicinterest groups to reach their desired audiences. Human Rights Watch,Inc., offers information on its Internet site regarding reported humanrights abuses around the world. National Writers Union provides a forumfor writers on issues of concern to them. Stop Prisoner Rape, Inc.,posts text, graphics, and statistics regarding the incidence andprevention of rape in prisons. Critical Path AIDS Project, Inc., offersinformation on safer sex, the transmission of HIV, and the treatment ofAIDS.

Such diversity of content on the Internet is possible because theInternet provides an easy and inexpensive way for a speaker to reach alarge audience, potentially of millions. The start-up and operatingcosts entailed by communication on the Internet are significantly lowerthan those associated with use of other forms of mass communication,such as television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. This enablesoperation of their own Web sites not only by large companies, such asMicrosoft and Time Warner, but also by small, not-for-profit groups,such as Stop Prisoner Rape and Critical Path AIDS Project. Commercialonline services such as America Online allow subscribers to create Webpages free of charge. Any Internet user can communicate by posting amessage to one of the thousands of newsgroups and bulletin boards or byengaging in an on-line “chat”, and thereby reach an audience worldwidethat shares an interest in a particular topic.

The ease of communication through the Internet is facilitated by the useof hypertext markup language (HTML), which allows for the creation of“hyperlinks” or “links”. HTML enables a user to jump from one source toother related sources by clicking on the link. A link might take theuser from Web site to Web site, or to other files within a particularWeb site. Similarly, by typing a request into a search engine, a usercan retrieve many different sources of content related to the searchthat the creators of the engine have collected.

Through the use of HTML, for example, Critical Path and Stop PrisonerRape link their Web sites to several related databases, and a user canimmediately jump from the home pages of these organizations to therelated databases simply by clicking on a link. America Online createschat rooms for particular discussions but also allows subscribers tocreate their own chat rooms. Similarly, a newsgroup gathers postings ona particular topic and distributes them to the newsgroup's subscribers.Users of the Carnegie Library can read on-line versions of Vanity Fairand Playboy, and America Online's subscribers can peruse the New YorkTimes, Boating, and other periodicals. Critical Path, Stop PrisonerRape, America Online and the Carnegie Library all make available contentof other speakers over whom they have little or no editorial control.

Because of the different forms of Internet communication, a user of theInternet may speak or listen interchangeably, blurring the distinctionbetween “speakers” and “listeners” on the Internet. Chat rooms, e-mail,and newsgroups are interactive forms of communication, providing theuser with the opportunity both to speak and to listen.

It follows that unlike traditional media, the barriers to entry as aspeaker on the Internet do not differ significantly from the barriers toentry as a listener. Once one has entered cyberspace, one may engage inthe dialogue that occurs there. In the argot of the medium, the receivercan and does become the content provider, and vice-versa. The Internetis therefore a unique and wholly new medium of worldwide humancommunication.

Once a provider posts content on the Internet, it is available to allother Internet users worldwide. Similarly, once a user posts a messageto a newsgroup or bulletin board, that message becomes available to allsubscribers to that newsgroup or bulletin board. Once a provider postsits content on the Internet, it cannot prevent that content fromentering any community. Unlike the newspaper, broadcast station, orcable system, Internet technology necessarily gives a speaker apotential worldwide audience. Because the Internet is a network ofnetworks any network connected to the Internet has the capacity to sendand receive information to any other network. Hotwired Ventures, forexample, cannot prevent its materials on mixology from enteringcommunities that have no interest in that topic.

It takes several steps to enter cyberspace. At the most fundamentallevel, a user must have access to a computer with the ability to reachthe Internet (typically by way of a modem). A user must then direct thecomputer to connect with the access provider, enter a password, andenter the appropriate commands to find particular data. On the WorldWide Web, a user must normally use a search engine or enter anappropriate address. Similarly, accessing newsgroups, bulletin boards,and chat rooms requires several steps.

Unlike other forms of communication on the Internet, there is technologyby which an operator of a World Wide Web server may interrogate a userof a Web site. An HTML document can include a fill-in-the-blank “form”to request information from a visitor to a Web site, and thisinformation can be transmitted back to the Web server and be processedby a computer program, usually a Common Gateway Interface (cgi) script.The Web server could then grant or deny access to the informationsought. The cgi script is the means by which a Web site can process afill-in form and thereby screen visitors by requesting a credit cardnumber or adult password.

A large percentage, perhaps 40% or more, of content on the Internetoriginates outside the United States. An Internet user could access aWeb site of London (which presumably is on a server in England), andthen link to other sites of interest in England. A user can sometimesdiscern from a URL that content is coming from overseas, since InterNICallows a content provider to imbed a country code in a domain name.Foreign content is otherwise indistinguishable from domestic content (aslong as it is in English), since foreign speech is created, named, andposted in the same manner as domestic speech. There is no requirementthat foreign speech contain a country code in its URL.

The use of “caching” makes it difficult to determine whether thematerial originated from foreign or domestic sources. Because of thehigh cost of using the trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific cables, andbecause the high demand on those cables leads to bottleneck delays,content is often “cached”, or temporarily stored, on servers in theUnited States. Material from a foreign source in Europe can travel overthe trans-Atlantic cable to the receiver in the United States, and passthrough a domestic caching server which then stores a copy forsubsequent retrieval. This domestic caching server, rather than theoriginal foreign server, will send the material from the cache to thesubsequent receivers, without placing a demand on the trans-oceaniccables. This shortcut effectively eliminates most of the distance forboth the request and the information and, hence, most of the delay. Thecaching server discards the stored information according to itsconfiguration (e.g., after a certain time or as the demand for theinformation diminishes). Caching therefore advances core Internetvalues: the cheap and speedy retrieval of information.

Caching is not merely an international phenomenon. Domestic contentproviders store popular domestic material on their caching servers toavoid the delay of successive searches for the same material and todecrease the demand on their Internet connection. America Online cancache the home page of the New York Times on its servers when asubscriber first requests it, so that subsequent subscribers who makethe same request will receive the same home page, but from AmericaOnline's caching service rather than from the New York Times's server.

FIG. 43 is an illustration of the architecture of the combined internet,POTS, and ADSL architecture for use in the present invention inaccordance with a first embodiment. In FIG. 43, to preserve POTS and toprevent a fault in the ADSL equipment 254, 256 from compromising analogvoice traffic 226, 296 the voice part of the spectrum (the lowest 4 kHz)is separated from the rest by a passive filter, called a POTS splitter258, 260. The rest of the available bandwidth—from about 10 kHz to 1MHZ—carries data at rates up to 6 bits per second for every hertz ofbandwidth from data equipment 262, 264, 294. The ADSL equipment 256 thenhas access to a number of destinations including significantly theInternet 268, and other destinations 270, 272.

To exploit the higher frequencies, ADSL makes use of advanced modulationtechniques, of which the best known is the discrete multitone (DMT)technology. As its name implies, ADSL transmits data asymmetrically—atdifferent rates upstream toward the central office 252 and downstreamtoward the subscriber 250.

Cable television providers are providing analogous Internet service toPC users over their TV cable systems by means of special cable modems.Such modems are capable of transmitting up to 30 Mb/s over hybridfiber/coax systems, which use fiber to bring signals to a neighborhoodand coax to distribute it to individual subscribers. Cable modems comein many forms. Most create a downstream data stream out of one of the6-MHZ TV channels that occupy spectrum above 50 MHZ (and more likely 550MHZ) and carve an upstream channel out of the 5–50-MHZ band, which iscurrently unused. Using 64-state quadrature amplitude modulation (64QAM), a downstream channel can realistically transmit about 30 Mb/s (theoft-quoted lower speed of 10 Mb/s refers to PC rates associated withEthernet connections). Upstream rates differ considerably from vendor tovendor, but good hybrid fiber/coax systems can deliver upstream speedsof a few megabits per second. Thus, like ADSL, cable modems transmitmuch more information downstream than upstream.

The internet architecture 220 and ADSL architecture 354, 356 may also becombined with, for example, user networks 222, 224, and 228. Asillustrated in this first embodiment, users may access or use orparticipate in the administration, management computer assisted programin computer 40 via various different access methods. In this firstembodiment, the various databases are only accessible via access toand/or by computer system 40.

FIG. 44 is an illustration of the architecture of the combined internet,POTS, and ADSL architecture for use in the present invention inaccordance with a second embodiment. As illustrated in this secondembodiment, users may access or use or participate in theadministration, management computer assisted program in computer 40 viavarious different access methods. In this second embodiment, somedatabases (e.g., 87, 88) are only accessible via access to and/or bycomputer system 40, and other databases (e.g., 85, 86) are onlyaccessible via access to and/or by internet 220.

FIG. 45 is an illustration of the architecture of the combined internet,POTS, and ADSL architecture for use in the present invention inaccordance with a third embodiment. As illustrated in this thirdembodiment, users may access or use or participate in theadministration, management computer assisted program in computer 40 viavarious different access methods. In this third embodiment, thedatabases (e.g., 85, 86, 87 and/or 88) are only accessible via access toand/or by internet 220.

FIG. 46 is an illustration of the architecture of the combined internet,POTS, and ADSL architecture for use in the present invention inaccordance with a fourth embodiment. As illustrated in this fourthembodiment, users may access or use or participate in theadministration, management computer assisted program in computer 40 viavarious different access methods. In this fourth embodiment, somedatabases (e.g., 87, 88) are only accessible via access to and/or byADSL system 256 via interface network 270, and other databases (e.g.,85, 86) are only accessible via access to and/or by Internet 220.

The above embodiments are only to be construed as examples of thevarious different types of computer systems that may be utilized incombination with the computer assisted-implemented process of thepresent invention with wireless devices.

FIG. 47 is a block diagram of an alternative computer system suitablefor implementing the invention. At each point-of-sale station, there isa CRT user terminal 201 and associated hard copy terminal 202. Thehardware system would include a plurality of these terminals. Eachterminal communicates with a central computer 204 through a control unit203, which controls the point-of-sale terminals, receives purchaseorders, redemption orders, and account inquiries from the point-of-salestations and transmits them to the central computer and receives accountverifications, transaction verifications, current market conditions, andresponses to customer inquiries regarding account status from thecentral computer 204 and transmits them to the appropriate point-of-salestations.

Each control unit could serve up to, for example, approximately 20point-of-sale stations. The account verifications, transactionverifications, current market conditions, and responses to customerinquiries are transmitted first to the CRT user terminal 201. If theinvestor requests a written transaction record or a written accountstatus report, the hard copy terminal 202 provides it upon command.

The central computer 204 contains storage space for data relating totransactions that are in process; processes all purchase and redemptiontransactions; performs the update operation; conducts the managementinformation reporting operation and the period-by-period performancemonitoring operation; calculates the income generated periodically ineach account; and performs the individual record-keeping and reportingoperation.

The central computer 204 transmits information to and receivesinformation from the master data files 205 as required in order toretrieve current and projected market data, perform the updateoperation, conduct the management information reporting operation andthe period-by-period performance monitoring operation, and retrieve theescalation rates needed to calculate revenues.

The central computer 204 also transmits information to and receivesinformation from the master account file 206. The central computer 204also transmits information to and receives information from the mastertransaction file 207 in connection with purchase and redemptiontransactions and in connection with management information reportingoperation. The central computer 204 also transmits end-of-periodfinancial statements to the accounting files 208 for storage andretrieves these statements from the accounting files 208 when promptedby the input/output devices of the central computer 209.

The system manager has a complement of input/output devices 209. Intothe input devices are entered requests for the daily and periodicreports to the manager, the management information reports, theperiod-by-period investment performance reports, and the individualreports and instructions for managing and controlling the hardwaresystem and its software. The output devices are used to obtain the dailyand periodic reports to the manager, the management information reports,the period-by-period performance reports, and the individual reports.

FIG. 48 is a block diagram showing a portion of the computer system ofFIG. 47 in more detail. The exemplary system includes the followingtypes of devices:

Make Model Item in FIG. 25 IBM 3278 or CRT user terminal 201 3279 or3179 IBM 3268 Hard copy terminal 202 IBM 3274 Control unit 203 IBM 4361central computer 204 IBM 3370–3380 disks 205–208 IBM 3420 or tape drives205–208 3480 IBM 3179 CRT terminal 209 IBM 3505 card reader 209 IBM 3525card punch 209 IBM 4245 printer 209

It is to be understood that there are a large number of commerciallyavailable substitutes for each item of hardware which could be combinedinto fully compatible systems. Accordingly, the scope of the inventionis not limited by the particularity of the hardware system describedherein.

The methods which are described herein, are implemented, for example, onthe hardware system(s) described in FIG. 47 (or other suitable computersystem) by embodying the flow-charted routines into a series of softwarepackages that substantially follow the sequence of steps in the flowcharts. There are conventional software packages that are commerciallyavailable that can also be adapted to perform one or more of the stepsdescribed herein. Accordingly, as described below, it would not benecessary in order to implement the invention to write separate softwarefor each step from scratch.

The Point-of Sale software package marketed by International BusinessMachines (IBM), for example, is a general interactive data package forpoint-of-sale applications that can be formatted to provide the precisemeans of receiving customer orders and inquiries, and transmitting theresponses to customer inquiries, and the transaction reports.

The Interactive Financial Systems (IFS) library of software packagesmarketed by IBM, for example, contains a set of general financial andaccounting packages that can be adapted and formatted to provide thedata base management, accounting, and financial reporting operationsrequired to implement the invention. Part I of IFS contains data basemanagement routines, which can be used to manage the master data files205, the master account file 206, the master transaction file 207, andthe accounting files 208. It also contains routines that can be adaptedto handle the account management functions.

Part II of IFS contains general routines that cover general ledgermaintenance and the preparation of financial statements and relatedschedules. It can be adapted and formatted to provide the precise meansof preparing the daily transaction summary and summary of currentposition; the end-of-period investment performance and position report;the end-of-period reports to account holders; the end-of-periodstatements; and the report to the manager. Part III of IFS can beadapted to monitor accounts receivable. As an alternative to the IFSsoftware package, the MSA software package produced by ManagementScience of America can be used.

The VSE/SP software package marketed by IBM contains a complete softwarepackage for operating the hardware system diagramed in FIGS. 25–26. Itis possible to write the software needed to implement each of the otherroutines in one of the available user languages, such as FORTRAN,Pascal, C, C++, and the like, by following the sequence of stepsdescribed herein.

Notations and Nomenclature

The detailed descriptions which follow may be presented in terms ofprogram procedures executed on a computer or network of computers. Theseprocedural descriptions and representations are the means used by thoseskilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of theirwork to others skilled in the art.

A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistentsequence of steps leading to a desired result. These steps are thoserequiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient at times,principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals asbits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or thelike. It should be noted, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities.

Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms,such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mentaloperations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a humanoperator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of theoperations described herein which form part of the present invention;the operations are machine operations. Useful machines for performingthe operation of the present invention include general purpose digitalcomputers or similar devices.

The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing theseoperations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the requiredpurpose or it may comprise a general purpose computer as selectivelyactivated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer.The procedures presented herein are not inherently related to aparticular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose machinesmay be used with programs written in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove more convenient to construct more specializedapparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structurefor a variety of these machines will appear from the description given.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from thedetailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claimsto cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, sincenumerous modifications and variations will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to theexact construction and operation illustrated and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention.

For example, the specific sequence of the above described process may bealtered so that certain processes are conducted in parallel orindependent, with other processes, to the extent that the processes arenot dependent upon each other. Thus, the specific order of stepsdescribed herein are not to be considered implying a specific sequenceof steps to perform the above described process. Other alterations ormodifications of the above processes are also contemplated. For example,further insubstantial approximations of the above equations are alsoconsidered within the scope of the processes described above. One ormore, or all of the above steps may optionally be performed manually.The above embodiments are only to be construed as examples of thevarious different types of computer systems that may be utilized inconnection with the computer assisted-implemented process for purchasingand provisioning items over global and/or local networks.

GLOSSARY

Dongle: a small security device that attaches to a computer port tocontrol access to a specific software application. A dongle-protectedprogram will run only when its dongle is attached to the computer.

Piconet: two or more Bluetooth units sharing the same channel—that is,operating in synchronism and following the same hopping sequence.

Profile: a document that describes exactly how different basic protocolsand procedures work together in various kinds of Bluetooth devices andapplications.

Service discovery protocol (SDP): a procedure used by Bluetooth-enableddevices to determine what services are available from or through otherBluetooth-enabled devices.

1. A method of at least one of reallocating, upgrading and awardingadmittance to events to an event customer via a data communicationnetwork, said data communication network optionally comprising a server,workstations operably connectable to said server, one or more databasesoperably connectable to said server and said workstations, saidworkstations optionally including a web browser interface facilitatingcommunication with said server, a point of sale server, and wirelessdevices operably connectable to said server, said wireless devicesincluding at least one of a smart card, a personal digital assistant, amobile telephones, and a mobile data device, said wireless devicecomprising at least one of transmitting and receiving means andtransceiver means for receiving and transmitting signals, said methodcomprising the steps of: (a) receiving a communication from the eventcustomer, the communication including a request to obtain admittance toat least one event, the communication also including an identifierassociated with an identification device; (b) updating an accountassociated with said identifier to reflect the request; (c) accessingthe account by utilizing the identifier stored on the identificationdevice at the point of sale system upon presentation of theidentification device to verify the request; (d) admitting the eventcustomer at the point of sale system after verification of the request;(e) determining a predetermined time period associated with the eventindicative of another event customer from event customers not attendingthe event in accordance with first predetermined criteria including atleast one of agreement with one or more of the event customers, theevent customer not providing notice of non-attendance a firstpredetermined time period prior to the event, the event customer notproviding notice of non-attendance a second predetermined time afterstart of the event, the event customer leaving the event early, andother predetermined criteria; (f) polling the wireless devices of aplurality of users to determine whether additional seats have beenavailable, and if additional seats have been made available, then addingthe additional seats to a list of available seats for said method ofdynamically at least one of allocating upgrading and awarding admittanceto the events to the event customer; (g) releasing an allocationassociated with the another event customer and notifying at least one ofthe event customers that are at least one of currently attending theevent and registered for said at least one of reallocating,reprovisioning, upgrading and awarding responsive to said releasing theallocation; (h) accepting by at least one of the event customers said atleast one of reallocating, reprovisioning, upgrading and awarding inaccordance with second predetermined criteria; (i) transmitting aconfirmation to the at least one wireless device of the at least anotherevent customer to be used by the at least another event customer toutilize the at least another seating location; (j) presenting, by the atleast another event customer, at least one of the confirmation andanother ticket associated with a previous seating location, to identifyand utilize the at least another seating location; (k) processingcustomer profiles in accordance with predetermined customer criteria,and determining responsive to the processing of the customer profilesevent customers to be notified via the at least one wireless device, andnotifying the event customers responsive to the customer profilescomprising at least one of communication, patron satisfactioncommunication, additional revenue, additional advertising, andadvertising sponsorship for advertising on the wireless device; and (l)polling the wireless devices of a plurality of users for additionalcommunications including additional requests for at least one ofadditional movie tickets, additional sporting event tickets, additionalconcessions, additional services, additional offers, additionalentertainment services and additional merchandise.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said identification device comprises a memory mediumfor storing the identifier, and wherein said accessing step furthercomprises reading said identifier from said identification device with areading device.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising generatingat least one of a physical receipt, a confirmation, and an electronicconfirmation with at least one of the identification device and thepoint of sale server.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising thestep of generating at least one of a physical receipt, a confirmation,and an electronic confirmation with at least one of the identificationdevice and the point of sale server, and the at least one of thephysical receipt, the confirmation, and the electronic confirmationcomprises at least one of reserved seating and purchase information. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein said second predetermined criteriaincludes the event customer willing to pay at least one of apredetermined and the highest price, and wherein said method furthercomprises the step of billing the event customer in at least one ofreal-time or at a later time for said at least one of reallocating,reprovisioning, upgrading and awarding in accordance with the secondpredetermined criteria.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said releasingan allocation associated with another event customer and said notifyingat least one of the event customers that are at least one of currentlyattending the event and registered for said at least one ofreallocating, reprovisioning, upgrading and awarding is performed inaccordance with a predetermined algorithm.
 7. A system for upgrading andawarding admittance to events to an event customer, said systemcomprising: means for receiving a communication from the event customer,the communication including a request to obtain admittance to at leastone event, the communication also including an identifier associatedwith the event customer; means for admitting the event customer at thepoint of sale system after verification of the request, and updating adatabase indicating that the request was processed; means fordetermining first predetermined criteria associated with the indicativeof at least one other event customer not attending the event includingat least one of agreement with one or more of the event customers, theevent customer not providing notice of non-attendance a firstpredetermined time period prior to the event, the event customer notproviding notice of non-attendance a second predetermined time periodafter start of the event, the event customer leaving the event early,and other predetermined criteria; means for polling the wireless devicesof a plurality of users to determine whether additional seats have beenmade available, and if additional seats have been made available, thenadding the additional seats to a list of available seats for said methodof dynamically at least one of allocating, upgrading and awardingadmittance to the events to the event customer; means for releasing anallocation associated with the at least one other event customerresponsive to said determining step, and notifying at least another ofthe event customers to perform said at least one of upgrading andawarding responsive to said releasing the allocation; and means foraccepting by the at least another of the event customers said at leastone of upgrading and awarding in accordance with second predeterminedcriteria; means for transmitting a confirmation to the at least onewireless device of the at least another event customer to be used by theat least another event customer to utilize the at least another seatinglocation; means for presenting, by the at least another event customer,at least one of the confirmation and another ticket associated with aprevious seating location, to identify and utilize the at least anotherseating location; means for processing customer profiles in accordancewith predetermined customer criteria, and determining responsive to theprocessing of the customer profiles event customers to be notified viathe at least one wireless device, and notifying the event customersresponsive to the customer profiles comprising at least one ofcommunication, patron satisfaction communication, additional revenue,additional advertising, and advertising sponsorship for advertising onthe wireless device; and means for polling the wireless devices of aplurality of users for additional communications including additionalrequests for at least one of additional movie tickets, additionalsporting event tickets, additional concessions, additional services,additional offers, additional entertainment services and additionalmerchandise.
 8. A method of dynamically communicating with an eventcustomer via a data communication network, said data communicationnetwork optionally comprising a server, workstations operablyconnectable to said server, one or more databases operably connectableto said server and said workstations, said workstations optionallyincluding a web browser interface facilitating communication with saidserver, a communication server operably connectable to the server, acommunication system operably connectable to the communication server,and wireless devices operably connectable to said server, said wirelessdevices including at least one of a smart card, a personal digitalassistant, a mobile telephone, and a mobile data device, said wirelessdevice comprising at least one of transmitting and receiving means andtransceiver means for receiving and transmitting signals, said methodcomprising at least one of the sequential, non-sequential and sequenceindependent steps of: (a) at least one of transmitting to and receivingfrom, at least one wireless device of the event customer a communicationincluding a request for at least one of a movie ticket, a sporting eventticket, a concession, a service, an offer, an entertainment service andmerchandise, the communication also including an identifier associatedwith at least one of the event customer and an identification deviceused by the event customer; (b) at least one of accessing and updatingan account associated with said event customer responsive to therequest; (c) at least one of accessing and verifying the account byutilizing the identifier optionally at the point of sale system uponcommunication with the identification device to verify the request; (d)optionally admitting the event customer at the point of sale systemafter verification of the request; (e) determining, an availableresponse associated with the request and the event and notifying atleast one of the event customers that are at least one of currentlyattending the event, the available response comprising anothercommunication responsive to the request to the at least one of the eventcustomers and responsive to said step (a) of said at least one oftransmitting to and receiving from, the event customer the communicationincluding the request; and (f) at least one of accepting andparticipating by the at least one of the event customers using thewireless device in receiving said at least one of the movie ticket, thesporting event ticket, the concession, the service, the offer, theentertainment service and the merchandise (g) transmitting aconfirmation to the at least one wireless device of the at least anotherevent customer to be used by the at least another event customer toutilize the at least another seating location; (h) presenting, by the atleast another event customer, at least one of the confirmation andanother ticket associated with a previous seating location, to identifyand utilize the at least another seating location; (i) processingcustomer profiles in accordance with predetermined customer criteria,and determining responsive to the processing of the customer profilesevent customers to be notified via the at least one wireless device, andnotifying the event customers responsive to the customer profilescomprising at least one of communication, patron satisfactioncommunication, additional revenue, additional advertising, andadvertising sponsorship for advertising on the wireless device; and (j)polling the wireless devices of a plurality of users for additionalcommunication including additional requests for at least one ofadditional movie tickets, additional sporting event tickets, additionalconcessions, additional services, additional offers, additionalentertainment services and additional merchandise.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising the step of polling the wireless devices ofa plurality of users for additional communications including additionalrequests for at least one of additional movie tickets, additionalsporting event tickets, additional concessions, additional services,additional offers, additional entertainment and additional merchandise.10. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of processingcustomer profiles in accordance with predetermined criteria, anddetermining responsive to the processing of the customer profiles eventcustomers to be notified via at least one of an announcement, manually,wireless device, mobile telephone, and bulletin board.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, wherein said step (a) at least one of transmitting to andreceiving from, the at least one wireless device of the event customer,further comprises the step of transmitting to and receiving from, the atleast one wireless device of the event customer the communicationincluding the request for at least one of the movie ticket, the sportingevent ticket, the concession, the service, the offer, the entertainmentservice and the merchandise, via a short message text service (SMS)communication that at least one of are displayed on and notify thewireless device upon receipt from the wireless device.
 12. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising the step of receiving demographicinformation form the event customer; processing the demographicinformation; transmitting to the at least one wireless device of theevent customer at least one of an advertisement, additional demographicinformation, direct marketing and focused advertising.
 13. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising the step of registering by the eventcustomer, and the event customer providing targeted marketinginformation including age and interests and compiling information foradvertising and marketing services, and receiving demographicinformation from the event customer; processing the demographicinformation; transmitting to the at least one wireless device of theevent customer at least one of an advertisement, additional demographicinformation, direct marketing and focused advertising.
 14. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising the step of registering by the eventcustomer, and the event customer providing information and compilinginformation for advertising and marketing services; processing theinformation; transmitting wireless device of the event customer targetedcommunications to the event customer allowing a sponsor to leverage userand market information to create the targeted communications comprisingat least one of an advertisement, additional information, directmarketing and focused advertising.
 15. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising the step of generating an electronic confirmation andtransmitting the electronic confirmation to the wireless device.
 16. Themethod of claim 8, wherein said predetermined criteria includes theevent customer willing to pay at least one of a predetermined price andthe highest price, and wherein said method further comprises the step ofbilling the event customer in at least one of real-time or at a latertime for said at least one of allocating, provisioning, upgrading andawarding in accordance with the second predetermined criteria.
 17. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising the step of generating anelectronic confirmation and transmitting the electronic confirmation tothe wireless device, and downloading at least one of instructions andlocation related information for the event customer to go to a locationassociated with the communication, including directions using a globalpositioning system in combination with the wireless device.
 18. A methodof dynamically communicating with an event customer via a datacommunication network, said data communication network optionallycomprising a sewer, workstations operably connectable to said server,one or more databases operably connectable to said server and saidworkstations, said workstations optionally including a web browserinterface facilitating communication with said server, a communicationserver operably connectable to the server, a communication systemoperably connectable to the communication server, and wireless devicesoperably connectable to said server, said wireless devices including atleast one of a smart card, a personal digital assistant, a mobiletelephone, and a mobile data device, said wireless device comprising atleast one of transmitting and receiving means and transceiver means forreceiving and transmitting signals, said method comprising at least oneof the sequential, non-sequential and sequence independent steps of: (a)processing customer profiles in accordance with predetermined criteria,and determining responsive to the processing of the customer profilesevent customers to be notified via the at least one wireless device, andnotifying the event customers responsive to the customer profilescomprising advertising sponsorship for advertising on the wirelessdevice via a short message text service (SMS) communication that atleast one of are displayed on and notify the wireless, device uponreceipt from the wireless device; (b) at least one of transmitting toand receiving from, via the short message text service (SMS)communication that at least one of are displayed on and notify thewireless device upon receipt from the wireless device, at least onewireless device of the event customer a communication including arequest for at least one of a movie ticket, a sporting event ticket, aconcession, a service, an offer, an entertainment service andmerchandise, the communication also including an identifier associatedwith at least one of the event customer and an identification deviceused by the event customer; (c) at least one of accessing and updatingan account associated with said event customer responsive to therequest; (d) at least one of accessing and verifying the account byutilizing the identifier optionally at the point of sale system uponcommunication with the identification device to verify the request; (e)optionally admitting the event customer at the point of sale systemafter verification of the request; (f) determining a predetermined timeperiod associated with the event indicative of another event customerfrom event customers not attending the event in accordance with firstpredetermined criteria including at least one of agreement with one ormore of the event customers, the event customer not providing notice ofnon-attendance a first predetermined time period prior to the event, theevent customer not providing notice of non-attendance a secondpredetermined time period after start of the event, the event customerleaving the event early, and other predetermined criteria; (g) pollingthe wireless devices of a plurality of users to determine whetheradditional seats have been made available, and if additional seats havebeen made available, then adding the additional seats to a list ofavailable seats for said method of dynamically at least one ofallocating, upgrading and awarding admittance to the events to the eventcustomer; (h) determining an available response associated with therequest and the event and notifying at least one of the event customers,the available response comprising another communication responsive tothe request, via the short message text service (SMS) communication thatat least one of are displayed on and notify the wireless device uponreceipt from the wireless device, to the at least one of the eventcustomers and responsive to said step (b) of said at least one oftransmitting to and receiving from, the event customer the communicationincluding the request; (i) at least one of accepting and participatingby the at least one of the event customers using the wireless device inreceiving said at least one of the movie ticket, the sporting eventticket the concession, the service, the offer, the entertainment serviceand the merchandise via the short message text service (SMS)communication that at least one of are displayed on and notify thewireless device upon receipt from the wireless device; (j) generating anelectronic confirmation and transmitting the electronic confirmation tothe at least one event customer via the wireless device via the shortmessage text service (SMS) communication that at least one of aredisplayed on and notify the wireless device upon receipt from thewireless device; (k) presenting, by the at least another event customer,at least one of the confirmation and another ticket associated with aprevious seating location, to identify and utilize the at least anotherseating location; (l) processing customer profiles in accordance withpredetermined customer criteria, and determining responsive to theprocessing of the customer profiles event customers to be notified viathe at least one wireless device, and notifying the event customersresponsive to the customer profiles comprising at least one ofcommunication, patron satisfaction communication, additional revenue,additional advertising, and advertising sponsorship for advertising onthe wireless device, and (m) polling the wireless devices of a pluralityof users for additional communications including additional requests forat least one of additional movie tickets, additional sporting eventtickets, additional concessions, additional services, additional offersadditional entertainment services and additional merchandise.